Subterranea 45 (September 2017)

Subterranea Britannica

September 2017 Issue 45

Visit to Clifton, Bristol
Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen

IN THIS Underground Dorking Part 2

ISSUE Portland Site Visits

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Subterranea Britannica is a society devoted to the study of man-made and man-used underground structures and the
archaeology of the Cold War. The society is open to all and its membership includes all walks of life. Members are invited
to contribute to this magazine even if this just means sending very welcome snippets from newspapers and magazines.

Editor: Nick Catford 13 Highcroft Cottages London Road Swanley Kent BR8 8DB e-mail editor@subbrit.org.uk

Contents

Chairman’s Welcome_1

Obituaries_2

Dates for Your Diary_4

AGM Minutes 2016_5

News

Archaeology_6

Conservation and Heritage_6

Health and Safety_7

Military and Defence _8

Mining and Quarrying_ 11

Miscellaneous_ 15

Publications_ 20

Tunnelling_ 21

Future News_ 25

Features

Sub Brit Visit to Clifton, Bristol_ 26

An enigmatic tunnel at Addington_ 34

London Borough of Brent Emergency Centre_ 35

Mail Rail - Sub Brit plays its part_ 40

Portland Site Visits_ 43

Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen_ 50

London’s Underground Wells_ 69

Abandoned Mines in Oxfordshire_ 71

Here Runneth Further Under (Underground Dorking) 72
Tunnels discovered at Esher_ 88

Front cover photo: Portland CEW(D) ROTOR Radar Machine Room. This image depicts the right-hand side of the machine room
which receives an unregulated, 400v, 3 phase, 4 wire, 50c/s supply from the transformer in the entrance tunnel.
The small, type 3 switchboard on the far right supplies this current via two star delta heavy duty starters (not
seen) to two 3.5 kVA motor alternators (rotary converters) one of which is seen on the left and distributes this
HF current back through the switchboard to the two T13 Mk6 and one Mk7, one T14 Mk8 and one Mk9 and
the T54 Mk3 radar heads/transmitters. The larger (nearer) Type 4 switchboard distributes the 50 c/s current to
the same radars to power the ancillary services. Photo Nick Catford

Back page upper: The Sub Brit group on the Copenhagen/Malmo weekend, assembled in front of the impressive Spitzbunker in
Mahno. Unique in Sweden, the air-raid shelter was built to house workers at the adjacent Kockums shipyard.
Photo Martin Dixon

Back page lower:

The first group within the largest chamber of the Clifton Bridge Leigh Woods abutment. Smaller chambers lead
off from this but are sadly out of bounds. Photo Gerald Tompsett

Officers

President: Dan Cruickshank
Chairman: Martin Dixon
Vice Chairman: Richard West
Secretary: Linda Dixon
Membership: Nick Catford
Treasurer: Tony Radstone
Committee

Richard Seabrook: Webmaster

Phil Catling: SB Meetings

Paul W. Sowan : NAMHO / SERIAC Liaison

Bob Templeman : Shop Mailings

Editorial Team

Editor of Subterranea : Nick Catford

Editorial Assistants: Martin Dixon & Linda Dixon

Layout: Martin Snow

Graphics: Tim Robinson

Proofreading : Stewart Wild

Tim Wellburn
Alistair Graham Kerr
Jason Hughes
Christopher Gray

Newsletters of Subterranea Britannica are published by the committee of Subterranea Britannica. Original articles,
book reviews, press cuttings, extracts from books and journals, letters to the Editor etc. are welcome.

However the Editor reserves the right not to publish material without giving a reason.

The committee of Subterranea Britannica and the Editor do not necessarily agree with
any views expressed and cannot always check the accuracy of any material sent in.

© 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by any means, without the prior permission in
writing of the author and copyright holder. Any information subsequently used must credit both the author and Subterranea Britannica.

Printed by Designosaur UK Ltd., First Floor, Albany House, Elliot Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH11 8JH 01202 914790
Subterranea Britannica A Company limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales Registration No. 6447148
Registered Charity Number 1141524 Registered Office: Heathend Cottage, Windsor Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7LQ

ISSN 1741-8917

www.subbrit.org.uk

Chairman’s Welcome

Martin Dixon

I have to start this magazine’s welcome with a sad farewell.
Farewell, that is, to Chris Rayner who tragically died in
mid-April. We all have much to thank Chris for as he
arranged the speakers for our Day Meetings and organised
many trips for members. Chris died just a week before
our Spring Meeting and it says a lot for his skills that
everything was perfectly set up and the day ran smoothly.
Many members have suggestions for visits and other
activities but Chris was someone who having had the idea,
then put in enormous effort to ensure it reached fruition.
There is a full appreciation of Chris’s life in this edition
of Subterranea and the Committee are considering ways
in which we can all remember and permanently record
Chris’s contribution to our society.

I’ve enjoyed a number of trips in recent months - in
particular the overseas weekend to Copenhagen which
was a roaring success. Some of the sites we visited are
open for public viewing so if you have a spare weekend
then it has much to offer.

Copenhagen is a city with superbly preserved defences
from the 11th to the 20th century, many of which of course
have underground aspects. The Cold War coastal artillery
and anti-aircraft battery site at Stevns alone justifies a trip
to Denmark (regularly open throughout the year but Sub
Brit enjoyed an extended tour).

Portland was also a fascinating day out; two widely
contrasting sites within a mile or so of each other. A Rotor
radar site which is a scheduled ancient monument followed
by what is Britain’s newest mine. The latter (a quarry to
purists) has supplemented opencast mining on the Isle,
partially to minimise the environmental impact and partially

to reduce the cost of removing the unproductive overburden.
The mine visit was followed by a tour of the stone factory
where old skills and new apprentices come together. Thanks
to the site owner and Sub Brit member John Marquis for
organising these visits. It’s a particular pleasure to see new
faces on site visits alongside longer-term members.

We always try and write up site visits to ensure that anyone
who couldn’t attend for whatever reason can still experience
the site secondhand. These site reports also ensure we have
a good record at a given point in time which can be valuable
to researchers and to future visitors.

If you are lucky enough to find yourself below ground
in an interesting space (which of course most are!) then
do consider penning a few lines for the benefit of others.
Don’t worry if you’re not an experienced writer - we
value different styles and have sub-editors who can work
on articles.

Finally, all current members should have received our latest
UK Site Directory at the end of June. Many thanks to Linda
who did the editing and layout; and to all the members who
contributed corrections and additions.

It’s particularly pleasing to see quite a few new sites added
since the first edition six years ago. A number of these
sites have benefited from Sub Brit grants to help with their
restoration or safety equipment - a valuable way to use
the charity’s funds to benefit one and all.

I hope you all had some enjoyable summer travels, whether
around the UK or to fhrther-fhmg comers of the globe. I
look forward to hearing about some of them at our Autumn
Day Meeting on 28 October.

chairman @ subbrit.org.uk

Subterranea Britannica

Autumn Meeting 2017

Saturday 28 October, commencing at 10.00am

Royal School of Mines, London SW7 2BP

There will be the usual mix of interesting illustrated talks along with Members’ contributions
and a chance to meet and mingle with fellow enthusiasts. Speakers confirmed so far

* Chris Taft on ‘Mail Rail’

* Tony Ginman of Hendal Lighting on ‘King’s Cross and lighting the Underground’

^Robert Youngs on Pope’s Grotto

*Dr Paul Dobraszyk, author of ‘Global Undergrounds’ and ‘Urban Ruins’

* Lauren Griffin of Derbyshire Caving Club on ‘The mines of Alderley Edge’

* New this year: Members short contributions throughout the day

Please book in advance via the website at www.subbrit.org.uk/events or by post to our registered address

Non-members are very welcome to attend
Cost £20 to include a sandwich lunch, or £22 on the day

1

Chris Rayner 1954 - 2017

Martin Dixon

Chris Rayner, who tragically died on 15 April this year,
had a life full of ups and downs. Up because he was a
mountaineer and because his work as an architect often
took him up high above the ground to inspect the fabric
of church spires and other structures. Down because of
his intense love of underground space and his passion for
the exploration of subterranean structures.

Christopher William Manser Rayner was bom on 17 June
1954. His father (after army service) was also an architect
which sometimes entailed Chris holding the ends of tape
measures up ladders and in the dark reaches of cellars;
a portent of things to come. In his teens he was once
run over by a site contractor but this obviously didn’t
deter him as he ended up following the same career as
his father.

Chris’s early life was full of thrills; he was a skilled
mountaineer and ice climber and he travelled widely. He
spent six months in Central America, looking for Mayan
and Aztec temples, including being in El Salvador during
their civil war. Whilst in Nicaragua he avoided night-time
dmg mnners by switching off his torch and blending into
the undergrowth. Chris never lost this spirit of adventure
and his thirst for exploration.

He later worked on a construction site in remote Alaska
with a pistol-packing boss. Chris sometimes used to take
a light plane to the work site but stopped doing this after
the pilot was encouraged by the manager to fly in with
work materials such as polystyrene strapped to the plane’s
wings! His Master’s degree was taken at the University
of California where he was once hit by a tear-gas grenade
on the Berkeley campus during a student demonstration.
Coming back to the UK in the 1980s, he settled in Sevenoaks
and with his wife Lesley, raised a family of one daughter
and three sons. They describe Chris as knowledgeable,
patient, kind and with an overwhelming love and affection
for the family and for life. All characteristics that those who
knew Chris will recognise, along with his love of jokes
and mischievous sense of humour.

As an architect, Chris specialised in historic buildings,
both restoration and renovation. Setting up his own
practice in 1992, he firmly believed in sustainable
living. He was an early advocate of ecological and
environmentally friendly designs. He always said that he
built homes and not houses and had a particular interest in
the former lodges of larger houses which have themselves
now disappeared.

Chris joined Sub Brit in 2007 and before long became an
active and valued Committee member. He organised our
Day Conferences around the country, set up innumerable
trips and was a prolific contributor of articles and photos
for Subterranea.

Chris at Paulsgrove Quarry, with two things he always
carried - a camera and a beaming smile.

Our grants programme was also overseen by Chris where
he used his wide network of contacts to ensure our limited
funds achieved maximum impact. He was the perfect
example of the maxim Tf you want something done then
ask a busy person’.

Chris was also a member of other groups such as KURG
(Kent Underground Research Group) and WCMS
(Wealden Cave and Mine Society). He got involved with
a number of projects, perhaps most notably at Fan Bay
in Dover, where KURG and Sub Brit members worked
alongside the National Trust to open the World War II
Battery Shelter to the public.

His knowledge of WWII air-raid shelters was second
to none. At our day meeting in October 2015 he gave
a fascinating presentation on shelters around the UK.
His deep knowledge and photographs deserved to be
published more widely and we looked forward to this
being the first of a series of talks. His wife Lesley attended
the meeting and I’m sure became aware of the respect
and esteem that we hold for Chris.

Chris with his camera and smile and trademark woolly hat.
Taken at Fort Widley in 2016. Photo Chris Howells

2

His most recent trip for Sub Brit was to Clifton
Suspension Bridge abutments and the Clifton Rocks
Railway in March 2017. This as usual was a fascinating
day out and the smiling faces at its conclusion said a
lot. Other sites he arranged access to in recent months
include RAF Bamham, Reading Scout Mine and Oxford
and Maidstone ROC Group Headquarters.

To me, what marked Chris out from the crowd was his
generosity. He gave freely of his time, his knowledge
and his friendship. All those who knew or met him were
richer for the experience. Sometimes quiet and always
modest, he worked for the good of all and devoted much
time for the benefit of others.

In mid-April, Chris collapsed while on a trip to Poland.
Despite every endeavour, Chris could not be revived and
so a great life tragically ended. It is some small comfort
to know that he was doing what he loved when he died
and that he was amongst friends. Although his passing
was premature, he lived every day to the full and packed
far more than most into his 62 years.

The news of his passing came as a great shock to us all.
Lesley, daughter Joanna and sons Tom, Michael and
John know that their grief is shared by all who knew
him. At his funeral at St Lawrence Church in Sevenoaks,
a packed church contained many members of Sub Brit.

Obituary: Nesta Caiger

Nesta Caiger, a former member of Subterranea Britannica,
was an important figure in Kent archaeology, a founder
member of the Kent Underground Research Group and
its chairman for nearly 20 years. She died in March 2017.
Nesta was bom in 1928 in Auckland, New Zealand, but
accompanied her family when six years later they moved
to England. They lived for some time in Croydon, where
she attended the Woodside primary school, and from 1952
she was a member of the Archaeological Section of the
Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society.

Much of her later life was spent at Bamehurst near Dartford
in Kent. With her husband John she conducted important
work on recording, photographing and researching
deneholes (now generally interpreted as medieval chalk
mines for agricultural purposes) and, after his death in 1975,
continued investigations of underground sites in Kent.

Her article about a small lignite mine at Cobham Hall in
Kent was published in the Bulletin of Subterranea Britannica
(issue 24 in 1988). She was also co-author of a book Kent
and East Sussex Underground , published in 1991. Other
published articles dealt with, inter alia, topics such as
Chislehurst ‘caves’ and other chalk mines, ice-houses and
ice-wells, and an underground hospital at Erith.

She was an active member and later Honorary Member
of the Kent Archaeological Society, a member of its
governing body, and produced the KAS Newsletter for
many years. She also served as secretary of the London
Archaeologist ] ournal.

The last trip Chris organised - inside Clifton Suspension
Bridge abutments; Chris is second left. Photo Bob Clary

St Lawrence is the church where Chris and Lesley were
married and is one of many churches for which he was
responsible for the fabric.

St Lawrence Church was struck by lightning in May 2005
and the Chancel badly damaged by fire. Chris oversaw
the restoration work with his usual attention to detail and
the church is now as good as ever. So Chris will live on
not just in our hearts but also in the many buildings that
he built and maintained.

Although his last j oumey was fittingly underground, by rights
he will now be looking down upon us from the highest level.

1928-2017

Nesta Caiger in Darenth Woods denehole circa 1954

SOURCE: Rod Le Gear and Paul Sowan.

3

SUBTERRANEABRITANNICA

Summary of Forthcoming Events

DIARY

Sub Brit specific events
2017

16 September Paddock Open Day
9-13 October Gibraltar Study Tour (1)
16-20 October Gibraltar Study Tour (2)

28 October Autumn Conference, London
29 October Thames Tunnels Tour
1 November Copy deadline for Subterranea 46
4 November SB Committee Meeting
Mid - December Subterranea 46 published

2018

27 January SB Committee Meeting
14 April SB Spring Meeting & AGM, London
20 October SB Autumn Meeting, Nottingham
21 October Visits Day, Nottingham

Other underground-related events

2017

7-10 September Glenfield Railway Tunnel Tours, Leicestershire
7-10 September Heritage Open Days, England
9 September Reigate Caves Open Day
9 September RAF Neatishead R3 Walk-through
9-10 September European Heritage Open Days, Northern Ireland
16-17 September London Open House
29 Sept - 1 October Hidden Earth (UK Caving Conference), Somerset
29 Sept - 20 October Highland Archaeology Festival
September (various) Doors Open Days, Scotland
September (various) Open Doors, Wales
14 October RAF Neatishead R3 Walk-through
20 - 22 October SFES Annual Congress, Laon, France

2018

6 - 9 March Conference on Caves and Karsts, Ardeche, S. France
21 April SERIAC Conference, Windsor
23 - 27 June AIA Conference, Caithness

2019

20 - 26 May Hypogea, Bulgaria

For web links to these events please visit www.subbrit.org.uk/events
or contact the Society concerned

If you know of other relevant events run by other societies, please let us know
so that they can be advertised in the next edition and on the website

4

Subterranea Britannica
Annual General Meeting2017
Minutes

22nd April 2017, Lecture Theatre 1.31,

Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London

By Sub Brit Secretary, Linda Dixon

The meeting was opened at 10.05 by the Chairman, Martin Dixon, who welcomed all those attending. 102 members
were present.

Before the formal business began, Martin paid tribute to Chris Rayner who passed away suddenly on the 15 April.
Chris was a Committee Member and tremendous contributor to Sub Brit, including arranging speakers for the Day
Meetings, managing the grants and arranging numerous trips for members. We are truly shocked and saddened by his
death. Our condolences have been passed to Chris’s family and a short period of silent reflection was held. There will
be a full obituary in the next edition of Subterranea.

1. Apologies were received from Mark Russell, Tony Radstone, Roger Starling, Chris Howells, Stewart Angell,
Robert Wood, Stephen Oakes.

2. The Minutes of the AGM 2016 were published to all members in Subterranea December 2016. It was proposed
by Alistair Graham-Kerr, seconded by John Burgess that the Minutes were a true reflection of the meeting; the
proposal was accepted nem con

3. Annual Report. This has been published to all members and is on the website. Martin highlighted some of the key
activities during 2016 and thanked all members who had contributed, both visibly and behind the scenes.

4. Statement of Financial Activities: Sub Brit’s Accounts have been signed off by the Committee and Independent
Examiner and have been filed at Companies House and the Charity Commission.

5. The motion that nominations for Sub Brit’s Committee be considered 4 en-bloc’ was proposed by Stewart Wild
and seconded by Sylvia Beamon. The motion was carried nem con.

6. The motion to elect the following Committee members for 2017/18 was proposed by Neil Iosson and seconded
by Bob Clary. The motion was carried nem con.

The elected Committee for 2017/2018 is:-

Martin Dixon
Richard West
Linda Dixon
Nick Catford
Tony Radstone
Alistair Graham Kerr
Jason Hughes
Richard Seabrook
Paul Sowan
Bob Templeman
Tim Wellburn
Phil Catling
Chris Gray

Chairman
Vice Chairman
Secretary

Membership Secretary

Treasurer

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

NEW

NEW

The Meeting closed at 10.25.

5

NEWS

Miscellany compiled by Paul Sowan and Nick Catford

NEWS - ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeological finds from Crossrail on show at the
Museum of London Docklands

The 42 kilometres of new tunnel created for Crossrail lie
40 metres or so below ground level, so pass well below
archaeological evidence for the evolution of London.
But at forty construction sites made between 2009 and
2015 strata just below the surface have been disturbed
by shafts and station sites, and yielded a good haul of
objects all of which have been recorded, along with their
stratigraphical and environmental contexts, by a team of
over 200 archaeologists. Five hundred of these objects
were displayed in a special exhibition at the Museum of
London Docklands in July and August.

The construction sites extend from Old Oak Common
on the west side of London to Abbey Wood in the east.
Artefacts date from 8,000 years ago to modem times. The
oldest include a Mesolithic flint scraper, the smallest is
the jaw bone of a mouse, and there are complete human
skeletons, and a wealth of artefacts made or used by man.
There are finds from the remains of a 15th-century
moated manor house at Stepney Green, a first- or second-
century cremation urn, and pickle pots and jars from
a former Crosse & Blackwell warehouse at Charing
Cross Road. Additions to London’s archaeology left
underground include unrecoverable parts of two tunnel¬
boring machines buried for future archaeologists near
Farringdon Station.

SOURCE: MARCHINI, Lucia, 2017, Tunnel: the
archaeology of Crossrail. Current Archaeology 28(1),
60-61.

Archaeologists use 3D digital modelling to shed new
light on prehistoric mound

The 5,000-year-old Neolithic passage tomb known as
‘Bryn Celli Ddu’ in Anglesey includes a stone cemetery
that was important for prehistoric people for thousands of
years. Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers have
found rock art and monuments that date back thousands
of years, suggesting this burial complex was much bigger
than previously thought.

Photo Matthew Richardson

Known as one of the most important archaeological
sites in Britain, Bryn Celli Ddu was once constructed
to protect and pay respect to the remains of ancestors. It
was first discovered in 1865, reconstructed in 1920s and
in excavations in the last few years they have uncovered
a prehistoric burial cairn above the ground.

Experts believe Bryn Celli Ddu had five wooden posts
which were built in the tomb’s forecourt during the
Mesolithic period. A large stone was placed in the centre
of the pit which was covered in carved decorations and
then the stone tunnel was made. Experts believe it was a
place to hold meetings, dances and ceremonies.
SOURCE: Mailonline, 22 June 2017
Puzzles posed by human bones found in a cave in
South Africa

Parts of the skeletons of at least 18 individuals of the
primitive human Homo naledi are being studied, and
dated to between 335,000 and 236,000 years old, far
younger than previously thought. The implication is that
Home naledi and Homo sapiens lived at the same time.
The now extinct human species was about 1.5 metres
when fully grown, and would have weighed about 45
kg. The species may have emerged in Africa around two
million years ago, but evidently retained some primitive
features found in older species.

The bones were found in the depths of the caves in a
location which is accessible only with considerable
difficulty, and appear to have been placed there as some
form of funerary rite. The route to the burial chamber is
through such tortuous and narrow spaces, far from the
cave entrance, that it seems these ancient people were
able to make and control fire for lighting. However, to
date, no archaeological evidence, or artefacts, have been
reported associated with the bones.

SOURCE: SAMPLE, Ian, 2017, Early human fossil
find questions evolution theories. The Guardian , 9 May
2017, page 12.

NEWS - CONSERVATION AND
HERITAGE

Monument’s £1.5m revamp could open up Wren’s
underground lab, London

The Monument will get a £1.5million revamp under plans
to open up Sir Christopher Wren’s underground laboratory
for the first time in decades. Anew two-storey visitor centre
at the 202ft column - opened in 1677 to commemorate
the Great Fire of London - will allow visitors to see the
chamber where Wren and Dr Robert Hooke peered into
the night sky through the tower, which they designed to
double as a telescope. At present the grate looking down
into the chamber is covered by a left-luggage locker.

6

The capacity of the Monument, which can take 33 visitors
at a time, would be increased. Tickets to climb the 311
steps cost £4.50 and this would rise by 75 percent.
Councillors will decide whether to fund a £15,000 study
to assess whether to go ahead with the project.
SOURCE: Evening Standard , 17 July 2017.

Tours of West Norwood cemetery catacombs
suspended

Tours of the cemetery catacombs by the Friends of West
Norwood Cemetery are to be suspended owing to access
safety concerns. The final tour will be in October 2017.
All participants must be FOWNC members for insurance
reasons.

Photo Nick Catford

Tours will restart when access to the catacombs has been
improved but FOWNC have not set a target date for
restarting the tours. In recent years, a number of special
tours for members of Subterranea Britannica have been
arranged. FOWNC will still be able to take tours for
specific groups like Subterranea Britannica if arranged
well in advance and if adequate insurance is in place.
SOURCE: Bob Flanagan, Chairman FOWNC.

New display at Peak District Mining Museum,
Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

The Peak District Mining Museum, opened in 1978 by
the Peak District Mines Historical Society, is housed
in the Grand Pavilion in Matlock Bath, and is highly
recommended as an introduction to the geology and
mining history of the region. Associated with the Museum
is Temple Mine, a few yards away on the other side of
the road, where visitors can visit a small underground
working where fluorspar was once extracted.

This year the Museum has opened a new exhibition
‘Matlock Bath through time’, which is exceptionally
well presented with historic photographs and artefacts,
and portrays the development of Matlock Bath from
a small hamlet to a Georgian spa resort to the popular

resort with various visitor attractions we know today.
The scope of the exhibition is not restricted to the area’s
mining heritage, which is of course the subject of the
museum as a whole.

Plans to open Devon air-raid shelter to the public get
the go-ahead

A plan to restore a World War Two air-raid shelter in
Newton Abbot has received unanimous backing from
planners. The Courtenay Air-Raid Shelter Heritage
Association now intends to turn the shelter in Courtenay
Park into a living museum of the site and to bring it back
to life. The shelter was built in 1940 and is made out of
reinforced brick and concrete as it would have needed
to protect the workers at the adjacent Newton Abbot
railway station.

The heritage association would like to repaint the inside
and outside of the building and create a new replica bench
inside. The building still has some of its original interior
features, such as the bunk beam slots and the original
bench hangers and supports.

The association plans to add information boards with
descriptive photographs and relevant information
regarding the park, town and points of local interest in
wartime and they feel the building could be put to good
use for the public visiting the town and the park. It will
offer local schools and groups the opportunity to view
and learn more about its function and what effect the war
would have had on residents living near the park.

This shelter is one of only a few remaining air-raid
shelters in Newton Abbot and is the only remaining public
shelter within a local authority open space.

SOURCE: Devonlive.com, 11 June 2017.

NEWS - HEALTH AND SAFETY

Health & Safety: Weil’s Disease

Sensible cavers, and anybody else who spends any time
exploring underground, carry a Weil’s Disease card,
which bears the following wording:

Weil’s Disease

A bacterial infection spread by the urine of rats and
cattle which can contaminate cave waters. It can enter
the body through breaks in the skin or via the eyes, nose
or throat. Mostly Weil’s Disease resembles an attack
of flu but it does kill around 5% of people infected in
England and Wales.

7

Symptoms usually develop 7 to 21 days after initial
infection. Early symptoms can include severe headache,
chills, muscle aches and vomiting. Later symptoms may
include return of fever, jaundice, red eyes, abdominal
pain, diarrhoea, or a rash

WEIL’S DISEASE CAN BE A FATAL ILLNESS IF
UNTREATED

If you become ill after caving and have any of these
symptoms CALL YOUR GP IMMEDIATELY
Tell your doctor you may have been in contact with
Weil’s Disease and show this card or BAC’s e-leaflet.
IF SUSPECTED ADMINISTER ANTIBIOTICS
IMMEDIATELY

TESTING FOR DISEASE. A blood test is usually
undertaken to confirm this illness. The sample should
be sent direct to RLIP, Public Health England, Manor
Farm Road, Porton Down, Wiltshire SP4 OJG. Tel.
01980 812348, using the form supplied at https: www.
gov.uk/governmentuploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/346000/Pl_Rare_and_Imported_Pathogens.pdf .
Issued by the British Caving Association 2016.

See www.british-caving.org.uk .

Rats or cattle urine can be found in all kinds of
underground sites, not just natural caves.

NEWS - MILITARY AND DEFENCE

World War I practice tunnels on Salisbury Plain,
Wiltshire

A substantial network of tunnels and trenches dug to train
troops during WWI has been discovered on army land
being cleared for housing. Archaeologists who worked
on the site at Larkhill, in Wiltshire, said the century-old
complex was a valuable discovery.

This is the first time anywhere in the world that
archaeologists have had the chance to examine, excavate
and record such an enormous expanse of WWI training
ground where soldiers were being trained for the real
thing, using live grenades (200 grenades were found in
the tunnel and 50 percent of them proved to be still live).
Archaeologists had to work side by side with experts in
dealing with live ordnance.

The site is full of evidence of the soldiers who trained
there. Graffiti still covers many of the tunnel walls, and
some of it has been matched to service records, including
those of Yorkshire coalminers, two brothers who signed
their name ‘Halls’ with the motto ‘Semper Fidelis’, and
one man who later deserted.

The recruits left mess tins, combs, toothbrushes, cigarette
and tobacco tins and pipes, candlesticks and candle stubs,
tins of condensed milk and meat paste, ajar of Canadian
cheese and a tin of Australian toffees, as well as scorch
marks from their cooking fires and candles. A bucket was
found that had been adapted into a brazier to help combat
the bitter cold at night.

The men being trained to fight on and under the battlefields
of France and Belgium couldn’t have known that their

tunnels ran through millennia of earlier history. The site
is two miles from Stonehenge, and the excavation also
uncovered a wealth of prehistoric material, concentrated
around the dry valley through which the river Avon once
flowed. The discoveries included an enclosure older than
Stonehenge, a small henge monument, Iron Age round
huts lived in at the time of the Roman invasion, and a
miniature pottery beaker found with the bones of three
children buried 4,000 years ago.

The archaeologists believe the training land began with
the trenches, and then the tunnels were added from 1915
as the nature of the war and the fact that it would certainly
not be over by Christmas became clear. In places the
tunnels are several levels deep, cut up to 6 metres below
the surface.

The men were trained to dig listening posts and sit,
stethoscopes to the wall, listening for enemy activity,
and then dig deeper tunnels to run under the enemy posts.
Some of the men who fought at the Battle of the Somme
in 1916, which began with mines being detonated in deep
tunnels, and the Battle of Messines, which began in June
1917 with 19 mines being set off under German trenches,
were trained at Larkhill.

The tunnels were found as work began on the army land
to prepare a site for 400 new houses for service personnel
and their families. The tunnels were permanently sealed
and pumped full of a slurry made from the excavated
chalk before construction could continue.

SOURCE: The Guardian, 24 April 2017.

World War II air-raid shelter recorded at Eltham,
Greater London

An air-raid shelter under a school playground in Eltham
has been the subject of historic building recording before
its proposed infilling with concrete as a result of a recent
structural assessment. The shelter, thought to date from
1939-40, is of pre-cast concrete frames and panels. Three
stepped main entrances would have fronted Archery
Road, and there were seven emergency escape exits
fitted with ladders.

The layout is irregular, with narrow passages that would
have been fitted with benches. No evidence for bunks was
noted, and little survives of original fittings other than

electric lighting circuit conduits and traces indicative of
telephones. One graffito was recorded.

SOURCE: DAVIS, R., 2017, Eltham, WWII air-raid
shelter, Eltham Church of England Primary School
(TQ 42980 74542). Post-Medieval Archaeology 50 (3),
459-460 [Abstract]

WW2 bunker on the Wirral to open to the public

During the war the Ministry of Defence used cellars and
a network of tunnels beneath the New Brighton Palace
amusement arcade on the Wirral as an ammunition factory.
There are now plans to open the bunker to the public.
The underground factory employed 200 women, was a
base for fire wardens and an air raid shelter, and there
was even enough space for a social club for the workers.
Now, after 70 years, the munitions area has been opened
for visitors who can marvel at the original machinery.

The munitions part of the tunnels have not been seen by
the general public and the rest of the old tunnels were
used as The Creep Inn night club. Visitors will be able
to experience what life was like during wartime in New
Brighton and will learn of the American army who were
stationed there from 1942-45. There will be wartime
film showings, dances and dinners with ration food at
the venue as well as lots more historical pictures based
on the history of Wallasey through time.

Tours are run by Hidden Wirral Myths and Legends,
tickets cost £7, there are limited spaces per tour and
advanced bookings are advised, www.hiddenwirral.org
SOURCE: Metro, 31 July 2017

Another German bunker on Jersey to be opened to
the public

A WWII German bunker in St Brelade which has been
closed for more than sixty years will be reopened to the
public this summer. The Channel Islands Occupation
Society has been cleaning an eight-room coastal defence
gun casement at Corbiere Lighthouse and they hope that
the project will be finished by the end of August.

A team of six have been working to make the underground
bunker, which is buried below the car park, safe for people
to visit. The bunker was closed in 1953 by the authorities and
only a handful of people in the Island had ever been inside.

The bunker in the 1950s

There was a scrap metal drive in 1953 and they went into
the bunker and removed the French 105mm gun, which
would have weighed around two or three tonnes. They
also took the armoured doors and any other metal they
could find before they boarded up the bunker. The back
entrance was buried and the embrasure was sealed up.
The bunker remained hidden until 1989, when the CIOS
broke through the sealed door to investigate if there was
anything worth salvaging, only to block up the entrance
shortly after. In 2006, when vandals broke into the
fortification, the CIOS decided to eventually reopen the
bunker. It is not a restoration project. This bunker tells
the story of what happened to the German defences after
the war, and of how the scrap merchants were interested
only in profit, not preservation.

SOURCE: Jersey Evening Post, 22 June 2017.

World War II air-raid shelter recorded at Leyton,
Greater London

An archaeological evaluation at the Jenny Hammond
Primary School, Worsley Road, Leyton in east London
has revealed rubble-filled cut features and the partially
demolished remains of an underground communal air¬
raid shelter comprising a stairway with flanking walls
of reinforced concrete leading down to an entrance of
pre-cast concrete slabs.

SOURCE: COWIE, H., and M. McKENZIE, 2017,
Eltham, WWII air-raid shelter, Jenny Hammond Primary
School (TQ 393 859). Post-Medieval Archaeology 50 (3),
page 475 [Abstract]

Joint Military Headquarters, Bodo, Norway

Bod0, just inside the Arctic Circle, is Norway’s closest
town to the 122 miles (196km) Norwegian / Russian land
border. An account of a visit to an underground bunker
near the town has recently been published. Although
the bulk of the text concerns Norwegian-Russian
relationships, some brief details of the bunker itself have
been given. A ‘vast cave chiselled out of a mountain of
quartz and slate’ accommodates the Norwegian Joint
Military Headquarters.

The bunker is ‘at the end of a long whitewashed tunnel
gouged through the mountain in 1963’ but originated
as a German work during the occupation of Norway in

9

World War II. Rooms full of electronic hardware are
dedicated to monitoring surface, submarine or airborne
movements in this far northern part of Norway and
extreme northwestern part of Russia.

SOURCE: WINTOUR, Patrick, 2017, In Norway’s cold
war citadel, wary eyes turn to Russia once again. The
Guardian , 13 March 2017, page 15.

WWII air-raid shelter found by workmen in Montrose
A complete and well preserved air-raid shelter has been
found by workmen on Scottish Water land that was once
part of the site of RAF Montrose, the first operational
military airfield in Great Britain. Several air-raid shelters
and gun emplacements can be found around the old
airfield, a major training centre for pilots during both
world wars, but Scottish Water said the find had been an
“unexpected discovery,” and Scottish Water have now
adapted their plans slightly to fit round it.

Scottish Water is currently installing solar panels to power
its water treatment works. RAF Montrose was created in
1912 as one of 12 “Air Stations” to be operated by the
Royal Flying Corps. Its North East location was designed
to protect Royal Navy bases at Rosyth, Cromarty and
Scapa Flow. Originally located at a farm just south of the
town, it was moved to its current location in 1913 given
the flat ground, the well drained sandy soil by the beach
and its easy access to the rail line. Similar shelters can
be seen around the airfield.

SOURCE: The Scotsman, 21 June 2017.

Crawley nuclear bunker likely to be demolished in
2018

The nuclear bunker beneath Crawley Town Hall will
be demolished, along with the town hall itself, if major

redevelopment plans for 250 new homes, offices and a
new town hall go ahead as planned.

The Crawley Borough Emergency Centre was built in
1979 with the aid of Home Office cash and was originally
intended as a control centre in the event of nuclear attack.
Access is via a heavy steel and concrete blast door into a
decontamination room which had a huge communal tiled
shower which could accommodate eight people at a time.

Sub Brit visit to Crawley Emergency Centre.
Photo Gerald Tompsett

The bunker is located in a basement at the town hall in
The Boulevard and, although decommissioned and no
longer operational since the Emergency Centre staff
moved to a new office in the Town Hall in the summer
of 2001, it still retains many of its original features. An
emergency escape tunnel from the building has now been
filled in. Rooms in the bunker have mostly been stripped
in recent years and the bunker used for ballot box storage
and election material.

The bunker was visited by members of Sub Brit in August
2001. Following news of the future demolition of the
bunker Sub Brit member Bill Ridgeway arranged a visit
for 11 members on 8 July.

SOURCE: West Sussex Gazette, 15 May 2017
World War II air-raid shelter open to visitors in
Zagreb, Croatia

Zagreb, capital of Croatia, is an attractive city. Your
scribe spent two days here some years ago on the way
home from representing Subterranea Britannica at a
conference on the Adriatic coast, and was impressed by
the archaeological, historical, scientific and technical
museums.

A new visitor attraction is now being developed in a
World War II air-raid shelter. A so-called ‘alternative
promenade’ has just opened, the Gric tunnel, which
is being converted into a ‘multi-sensory museum’ but
‘for now you can roam its atmospheric catacomb-like
corridors which are littered with war graffiti’. The
intended museum is to be devoted to a ‘Museum of
Broken Relationships’ in which ‘relics will detail failed
loves’.

SOURCE: MELLOR, Richard, 2017, Night on the tiles
in pretty Zagreb. Metro , 27 April 2017, page 41.

10

Cannabis to be grown in a nuclear bunker legally

In recent years cannabis farms have been found in the
RGHQs at Drakelow and Chilmark. In Lower Pottsgrove
in Pennsylvania, USA, a company is hoping to harvest
the drug in a nuclear fallout shelter legally.

Bunker Botanicals LLC received support from the
township commissioners after presenting a plan to
convert an underground communications equipment
bunker built in the 1960s to a marijuana growing facility.
The 50,000-square-foot facility would meet all state
security requirements and could be one of the most secure
sites in Pennsylvania.

The facility would be used to manufacture state-approved
medical marijuana in various forms, including oils and
capsules. The products would be delivered to state-licensed
dispensaries, which cannot be located at the growing site.
SOURCE: Berks & Beyond , 24 February 2017.

Hawaii prepares for nuclear strike by North Korea
People in Hawaii are keeping a close eye on North Korea
after the Pentagon warned that North Korea could launch
further missile tests.

North Korea’s successful Intercontinental Ballistic
Missile (IBM) test in July caused global alarm and experts
say Alaska and Hawaii could be in range. Hawaii is the
first state to announce a public campaign urging those
living there to prepare for a nuclear attack.

A bunker, located under more than 1000 feet of rock, could
soon be used as an ideal place to ride out a nuclear attack.
It would take less than 20 minutes for a nuclear missile to
reach Honolulu - something state officials want the nearly
1.5 million people who live in the islands to prepare for.
In the event of a nuclear emergency, State Representative
Gene Ward wants key government officials to have a safe
place to operate, beneath Diamond Head. The facility houses
a little-known network of tunnels built into the dormant
volcano that the military has used for more than a century.

Tunnel into the volcano crater at Diamond Head. The tunnel
entrance has gates to seal the crater and a cover to catch
falling rocks

It was designed to withstand an artillery barrage and also to
unleash an artillery barrage in the opposite direction. It was

however designed for equipment, material and weapons
and not people. Every vital public service in the islands can
be controlled from within the two miles of air-conditioned
tunnels. Back in the 1950s, the government turned these
old ammunition storage rooms in the tunnels into a civil
defence hub. To date, the state’s emergency operation
centre runs 24-7 in an underground bunker nearby.
Emergency officials believe the majority of the population
would survive the initial explosion. What they need to
be prepared for is the nuclear fallout and to stay inside
for up to two weeks.

SOURCE: CBS News, 27 July 2017.

NEWS - MINING AND QUARRYING

NAMHO Conference and Field Meeting at Godstone,
Surrey

The National Association of Mining History Organisations,
of which Subterranea Britannica is a member, held its
2017 Conference and Field Meetings based at Godstone
in east Surrey during the weekend 24 and 25 June, with
some additional visits on Friday 23 and Monday 26. The
event is always organised by one of the Association’s
member bodies, the hosts this year being the Wealden
Cave and Mine Society.

Descending the Sheldwich Dene Hole. Photo Matt Clark

The local society was celebrating its 50th anniversary,
having started life as a caving club called Unit 2 Cave
Research and Exploration in 1967. WCMS is both a
caving club, with frequent caving visits in the Mendips
and South Wales, and an industrial archaeology group
actively engaged in connection with underground sites

11

in Surrey. WCMS has previously hosted a NAMHO
conference, based at Juniper Hall near Dorking, in 2005.
As usual, most of those attending spent the weekend
under canvas, at a farm near Blindley Heath, several miles
south of Godstone. There were two days of lectures held
in the village hall in Godstone and, concurrently, two full
days of field meetings to locations throughout southeast
England, including of course some of the numerous mines
in east Surrey. Interestingly, neither the lectures nor the
field visits were restricted to strictly mining topics in the
sense of mineral extraction. Mined tunnels were created
for their usefulness as secure underground space as well
as for the sake of the excavated minerals.

The lectures included presentations on the Trevithick
Society’s work in Cornwall; the WCMS development
of the ‘Reigate Caves’ as a visitor attraction; the
Surrey hearthstone mines and the hearthstone trade; the
reopening of the Fan Bay WWII air-raid shelter tunnels
and re-excavation of two sound mirrors near Dover;
exploration of quarries at Windrush in Gloucestershire;
investigating limestone mines at Burwash; and work at
the Cold War bunker at Warding, East Sussex.

Field visits underground featured stone quarries at
Merstham and Godstone; sand mines at Reigate and
Godstone; an iron mine near Wadhurst; a dene hole
and ice-house at Sheldwich Lees in Kent; the Warding
bunker in Sussex; and some tunnels at Dover. There was
also a surface walk to see underground quarry locations
and associated tunnelling sites at Merstham, Surrey.
A conference booklet was issued to those attending,
containing useful information on sites visited. About a
hundred persons attended the weekend, some travelling
from as far as Cornwall and the North Pennines.

Death of Ivor Brown

Ivor John Brown died on 4 April 2017 aged 79. He was
a mining engineer who alongside his professional work
played a very significant role in the work of voluntary
mining history societies and in the National Association
of Mining History Organisations.

He was born at Madeley, near Ironbridge, in Shropshire
on 20 April 1927, left school at the age of 15 and found
employment with the National Coal Board. During a
seven-year apprenticeship he attended a technical college at
nearby Oakengates, and the North Staffordshire Technical
College at Cannop. He was awarded his Mine Manager’s
Certificate in 1959 and Mining Diploma in 1962.

After 10 years in the Shropshire mines, then in the process
of being closed, he qualified as a lecturer in Mining
Engineering. Five years later he found employment
with Telford Development Corporation, addressing
the problems associated with the legacy of abandoned
coal mines, and for this work was awarded his PhD by
the University of Leicester. The abandoned limestone
mines under Lincoln Hill were also within his attention.
He served subsequently as Minerals Officer for West
Yorkshire, moving then to live at Sandal near Wakefield.

Photo Kelvin Lake

Ivor was actively engaged in the work of voluntary
societies such as the Shropshire Caving and Mining
Club and the Peak District Mines Historical Society, and
others, and he was for a while a member of Subterranea
Britannica, attending an early study weekend held at
Maastricht. On that occasion he found the replicated coal
mine in a former building-stone quarry at Valkenburg
of particular interest. The Dutch coal mines had been
closed by then, but artefacts and machinery from them
are preserved and well presented in a former building-
stone quarry at Valkenburg.

Ivor was also involved in the development of the
Ironbridge Gorge Museum, and the National Mining
Museum for England at Caphouse, near Wakefield.

His published work, commencing in 1961 with an article
on the Meadowbank rocksalt mine published in the
Cannock Technical College Students’ Magazine, ran
to over 90 papers on mining and mining history. It was
followed by numerous published articles and papers,
and two books.

SOURCE: BROWN, Ivor John, 2017, Farewell Ivor
Brown. Descent 256, page 17 and Paul Sowan’s records;
Mike LUFF, 2017, Obituary. Ivor John Brown PhD, 20
April 1937 - 4 April 2017, Newsl. Peak District Mines
Historical Soc. 163 (July 2017), 5-6.

Death of Trevor Ford

Trevor David Ford, an academic geologist at the
University of Leicester, died on 22 February 2017 at
the age of 91. He was born in Essex in 1925 but lived
subsequently in Sheffield. On leaving school he worked
as a bank clerk, 1941-44, before being called up and
joining the RAF.

In 1946 he enrolled at the University of Sheffield,
graduating with honours BSc in geology in 1950, and
being awarded a PhD in 1953. A teenage interest in
mines and caves endured throughout his life, and he
became a highly respected historian of mining. He was
in turn lecturer, assistant lecturer, and senior lecturer in
the Geology Department at Leicester.

12

Beyond exclusively professional and academic pursuits,
he was an active member of voluntary sector bodies
devoted to the exploration and understanding of both
natural cave systems and underground mineral extraction.
He was an especially active member of the Peak District
Mines Historical Society, whose Bulletin {Mining
History) he edited for around 36 years.

Much of Trevor’s published research from 1954
onwards addressed the legacy of mining in and around
Derbyshire, and over 500 books and papers include
valuable information on, additionally to the lead trade,
the mining of minerals other than metalliferous ores
such as barytes, calcite, chert, fluorspar and its ‘blue
john’ variety, limestone, ‘marble’, and rottenstone. He
also wrote significant accounts of the history of geology
and mining.

He was made an Honorary Member of the British Cave
Research Association in 1977 and awarded an OBE in
1997 for services to cave science and geology.
SOURCE: ANON, 2017, Obituary notice: Dr Trevor D.
Ford. Bull. Grampian Speleological Group, Series 5,
2(2), page 39 and Paul Sowan’s records; Richard Shaw,
2017, Obituary. Trevor D. Ford BSc PhD FGS OBE 1925
to 2017, New si. Peak District Mines Historical Society
163 (July 2017), 4-5.

Wealden Cave and Mine Society assist in quarrying
Reigate stone, Merstham, Surrey

Members of the Wealden Cave and Mine Society have
assisted with the opening of a temporary quarry at
Merstham in east Surrey. This was in order to win some
Reigate stone for use in a display of building stone in
new work at Westminster Abbey. Samples of the stone
types used in the Abbey are being incorporated in a new
lift shaft to serve visitors to the triforium.

The temporary quarry at Merstham. Photo Peter Burgess
The site chosen was between the old (1841) and new
(1899) main railway lines, south of the Merstham tunnel
portals. The stone bed was known to lie at shallow depth
at this location as a crown hole collapse had in 1971
allowed access to a very short length of subterranean
quarry tunnel, from which two 19th-century clay tobacco

pipes were retrieved. Two photographs of the re-exposed
quarry tunnel reveal it to lie at a depth of three to four
metres below ground level. The pit, opened in January
2017, has now been back-filled.

SOURCE: BURGESS, Peter M., 2017, New Reigate
stone quarry opened - briefly! News of the Weald 99,
pages 3 and 11.

Surface visit to the Shenley chalk mine, Hertfordshire

Your scribe visited the chalk mines at Shenley some
decades ago. The mine, or mines, evidently developed
from four shafts, perhaps initially serving small
independent mines which have become linked. My
memory is of a wire ladder descent, not to the mine floor
but to the top of a substantial debris cone comprised in
part of dead sheep. The remainder of the descent of this
pile of rubbish brought you to the mine floor itself, and
half a dozen or so interlinked loft galleries. The lower
ends of another two shafts could be seen, as could a
mass of clay supposedly blocking a fourth shaft said to
be below what is now a pond.

The site has now been visited by members of the
Geologists’ Association who peered down the open
shaft but did not descend. The visit report, however, is
accompanied by a plan of the mine, derived from the
Chelsea Speleological Society’s records, and a useful
description of the site, which is near Pinks Farm, between
Ridge and Ridge Hill, not far from the South Mimms
Service Station.

Underground at Shenley. Photo Don Wood
The open shaft is ‘in the farmyard’ of one of the farm
cottages, some 20 metres deep, the top five metres being
brick lined as it was dug through a superincumbent bed
of unconsolidated Reading Beds. Nearby is an abandoned
and overgrown clay pit dug in connection with brick¬
making, suggesting that chalk was dug from the mine,
as elsewhere, to mix with the brick-clay. The brickfield
was evidently still active in 1913, and at this location a
brick kiln is shown on Dury and Andrews’ map of 1766.
Two probably still active small natural subsidences were
noted, formed by solution of the underlying chalk. The
fourth ‘mine shaft’ may in fact be in reality the clay filling
of such a solution feature, not a mine shaft at all.

13

This well-preserved and infrequently visited chalk mine
is currently being researched by members of the Kent
Underground Research Group. Preliminary conclusions
are that this is a 19th-century mine worked in association
with a brickfield, and closed at about the start of World
War I. It is now a protected bat hibernation site.
SOURCES: HOWGATE, Mike, 2017, Field meeting
report: the geology around South Mimms, Hertfordshire,
15 April 2017. Geologists’ Association Magazine 16(2),
30-31; WEALDEN CAVE AND MINE SOCIETY,
2017, NAMHO Conference 2017. [Booklet issued to
those attending]

Underground quarrying resumed at Collyweston,
Northamptonshire

Collyweston has been a source of ‘stone slates’ used
on the roofs of buildings in and around Lincolnshire
and Northamptonshire, and as distant and venerable as
colleges in Cambridge. The fissile sandy limestone (not
geologically a true ‘slate’ which is a metamorphic rock)
has reportedly been quarried underground for at least
six centuries.

Nigel Smith inspecting a seam of slate in his newly
re-opened mine

Quarrying having ceased some 50 years ago, modern
demand for Collyweston ‘slate’ has hitherto been met by
recycling material from the roofs of redundant bams and
the like. However, the quarry is now reopened to supply
new material for reroofing a building at King’s College,
Cambridge. There is also the possibility of supplying
material for Clare College. It is estimated that the reserves
at Collyweston can yield 200 tons of ‘slate’ annually for
the next ten years. Similar fissile stone ‘slate’ has also
been quarried underground in the past at Stonesfield in
Oxfordshire.

SOURCE: SAWER, Patrick, 2017, Fresh lease of life for
one of Britain’s oldest slate mines. The Daily Telegraph ,
9 March 2017, page 14.

Progress with Woodsmith polyhalite mine near
Whitby, North Yorkshire

Work is progressing with the development of a new deep
mine near Whitby in North Yorkshire. Sirius Minerals
plans to commence production of polyhalite, a potassium
mineral used in agricultural fertilizers, in 2021.

Initially ten million tonnes per annum of polyhalite are to
be extracted, with production to be doubled in due course.
The mineral raised will be transferred to harbour facilities
at Teesside by way of a 23-mile tunnel to avoid intrusion
in the North York Moors National Park. The mine is
expected to employ 1,000 persons when operational.
SOURCE: SIRIUS MINERALS, 2017, Aggregates for
Whitby mine. Modern Railways 74(825), page 20.
Possible reopening of South Crofty tin mine, Cornwall
The long-closed South Crofty tin mine near Camborne
is currently owned by a Canadian company, Strongbow
Exploration Inc., which concern has reportedly pledged
investment in the redevelopment of extraction at this
location. There is currently a healthy worldwide demand
for tin, and the current high price of the metal at £17,000
per tonne is more than double that current as recently as
1998. Other mines in the county are also now seen as
economically potentially worth redevelopment, including
those in the Kit Hill area of eastern Cornwall.
SOURCE: ANON, 2017, Could 2017 mark real progress
towards the reopening of at least one Cornish tin mine?
Down to Earth 98, 6-7.

Groundwater once a nuisance to tin miners now seen
as a valuable resource, Cornwall

A company called Cornish Lithium has in view
exploratory boreholes in 300 square kilometres of land
centred on the traditional mining areas of Camborne,
Redruth and St Day, the object in view being lithium-
rich brine which once flooded the then-active tin mines.
Lithium is a reactive metal closely resembling sodium
and potassium. If children remember any chemical
demonstration from their schooldays it is usually the
spectacular behaviour of potassium metal when dropped
in water.

The ultimate sources of Cornish lithium include the
mica group mineral lepidolite, but extracting this from
raw granite, or even from the ‘rotted’ granite and mica
spoil from china clay waste tips, would be prohibitively
expensive. Fortunately geothermal (hot) water circulating
at depth in west Cornwall has obligingly dissolved
soluble lithium compounds from the native granite.
Isolating purified lithium compounds from the other salts
in these hot brines is now seen as economically feasible,
followed by isolation of the metal itself.

The economics are now favourable on account
of rising world demand and prices for lithium,
increasingly important in batteries for electric cars
and for power storage, and in laptops, cameras and
mobile telephones. As a bonus, the hot water itself is
a potentially important energy source. Currently, the
world’s requirements for lithium are met by Australia,
China, and South America.

SOURCE: MORRIS, Steven, 2017, Poldark county sets
sights on lithium bonanza. The Guardian , 20 January
2017, page 31 and Descent 256, page 17.

14

Archaeology of the chert mines at Bakewell,
Derbyshire

Chert is, chemically and mineralogically, a very similar
material to flint. It is composed of one of the several
forms of the very hard mineral silica (silicon dioxide).
There have been three British sources for chert used as
grindstones in mills where calcined flint (from the chalk
of southern England) was ground for use in the pottery
industry. Other extraction sites were in Flint (Wales)
and Swaledale (North Yorkshire). Opencast working
and later mining at Bakewell apparently dates from the
late eighteenth century, and came to an end in the 1960s.

Holme Bank chert mine

This exemplary study addresses the geology and geological
context of the Bakewell chert, and the mining methods
employed in its extraction. It is copiously illustrated with
mine plans and photographs of underground features. A
short section notes other English locations where rock
has been quarried underground, such as the Bath area
and east Surrey. Regrettably the wide-ranging list of
bibliographical sources for comparable areas includes
one relating to underground quarrying at Merstham in
Surrey which was not the work of the cited author, but a
plagiarised version of a publication compiled by members
of the Croydon Caving Club.

SOURCE: BARNATT, John, and Terry WORTHINGTON,
2017, Quarrying chert at Bakewell: a detailed
archaeological survey of Pretoria mine and observations
on Holme Bank, Holme Hall and Endcliffe mines. Mining
History 19(6), 1-119.

Scottish gold offered for sale

Scottish gold newly mined at the Cononish mine at Tyndrum
was on sale to the public on 29 November 2016. This is the
first sale of the metal sourced from Scotland for more than
a century. Commercial gold winning was once carried out
on a small scale at Wanlockhead in Dumfriesshire and at
Kildonan near Helmsdale in Caithness.

SOURCE: SCOTGOLD RESOURCES LTD, 2017, First
Scottish gold sold. Down to Earth 98.

Tin mining in Portugal

Long-established tin mining near the Portuguese village of
Portelo in Braganca province, close to the Spanish border,
was developed commercially in 1958, where exploitation

continued at the Mina de Vale da Ossa (Bear Valley Mine)
underground until the 1980s and, opencast, until 1995.
Numerous mine buildings and structures, including the
ore dressing plant, remain standing. Some still accessible
levels have been gated but left unlocked, and give access
to stopes (worked-out steeply inclined mineral veins).
Open stopes at the surface have mostly been capped,
although a few of the smaller ones remain open and a
potential hazard to persons exploring the site as they are
largely hidden by vegetation. The 1,130 hectares site
produced 3,000 tons of cassiterite (tin oxide) ore in the
1970s. Significant reserves exist, which may one day be
exploited again if tin prices move favourably. The site
is described as ‘interesting, with lots to see’ but ‘take a
hard hat, wellies and a lamp’.

SOURCE: ANON, 2017, Bear Valley mine. Descent
256, page 15.

NEWS - MISCELLANEOUS

Two lost Archbishops of Canterbury found under
former church in Lambeth, London

St Mary’s Church, decommissioned in the 1970s, now
houses the Museum of Garden History, administered by
the Tradescant Trust. It stands next to Lambeth Palace.
Recent work on the church floor has revealed a long-
forgotten burial vault which, on inspection, has been
found to contain twenty lead coffins.

There are no clues to the identities of most of the deceased,
but two contain the remains of former Archbishops of
Canterbury, Richard Bancroft (Archbishop 1604-1610)
and John Moore (Archbishop 1783-1805). The coffins
of Moore’s wife Catherine and one Bettesworth (1677-
1751) have also been identified.

SOURCE: TRADESCANT TRUST, 2017, Archbishops
emerge from Lambeth church. Current Archaeology
28(3), 12-13.

Construction of a tram line unveiled hidden remnants
of the old medieval city in Nice

In 2004, while workers were constructing a new tram
line between Pont Michel and Las Planas in Nice, they
stumbled across something odd: fragments of an old
medieval city, hiding in a 6,000-square-foot chamber
just beneath the ground.

The chamber has been open to the public since October
2012. The chamber’s entrance is right next to the tramway
that runs parallel to Place Jacques Toja in Old Nice,
where a small trapdoor opens to reveal a staircase. An
elevator bearing a poster advertising La Crypte de Nice
is the only clue revealing what lies just 20 feet below the
ground. When it is closed even the staircase disappears.
A panel seals the entrance, making it blend in with the
rest of the square.

Sightseers are first greeted by a map of the old city,
complete with a red circle that indicates the location’s past
life as an old wall that once formed the barrier between
Nice and the surrounding land. Old walls and a well

15

Part of the medieval aqueduct

preserved 14th-century tower are among the first visible
artefacts. Bits of medieval houses that belonged to the
Augustin family and an aqueduct that once brought water
to the Sardinian King’s palace lie deeper within the crypt.
This area also holds the remnants of a bridge that led to
Turin, Italy and a 17th-century moat built to protect the
then-independent Nice from French invasions.

Plaques with illustrations are scattered throughout the
underground city to help visitors imagine how the place
might have originally looked.

SOURCE: Atlas Obscura, July 2017.

Alexander Pope’s grotto at Twickenham
The poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) lived the last
quarter of a century of his life in a Palladian mansion
which he had had built on the banks of the Thames in
Twickenham in 1720. His house incorporated a grotto in
the basement. This served as an impressive entrance for
guests arriving by water, being the finale to a walk through
the five-acre garden. The grotto was evidently suggested
by Pope’s visit to the thermal spa at Hotwells near Bristol.
Pope sought donations of mineral specimens and exotic
shells from his well-heeled and well-travelled friends.
Over 30 tons of specimens arrived with which his grotto
was decorated. William Borlase sent minerals from
Cornwall. Ralph Allen, of Bath, supplied ‘alabasters,
spars, and snakestones (ammonites)’. Petrified wood and
mosses from Knaresborough, amethyst, bits of columns
from the Giant’s Causeway, and other such items were all
incorporated. Pope introduced mirrors to direct sunlight
reflected by the Thames to add ‘sparkle’ to his glittering
assortment of mineral crystals. There was no pretence of
scientific order in their arrangement.

The mansion was demolished in 1808, but the basement
tunnels survive. The grotto is now ‘dingy and weathered,
but solid and remarkably intact’, and is Listed Grade II,
recognised by English Heritage as ‘at risk’ and in need of
conservation. English Heritage has provided some funding
with conservation in mind. A Pope’s Grotto Conservation
Trust has been established, and has contacted the History
of Geology Group for expert assistance with, for example,
identification of the minerals.

The site is now occupied by the Radnor House
Independent School, which body has allowed some
weekend and school holiday visits by volunteer HOGG
recorders sufficiently proficient in mineral identification.
The cited source includes a plan of the grotto, and historic
and modern internal views.

SOURCE: HENRY, John, 2017, Pope’s grotto. Newsl.
History of Geology Group 59 (February 2017), 13 - 16b
[The History of Geology Group is one of the specialist
groups of the Geological Society of London].

Little used Chinese tube station is becoming a tourist
attraction in its own right

Caojiawan station is a stop on Line 6 of Chongqing’s Rail
Transit service, in the southwest of China. It opened with
great fanfare in 2015 and looks somewhat futuristic. But
this subway station in China has one very bizarre aspect
to it - it has been built on wasteland. It isn’t even served
by a paved road.

It is sitting among undeveloped land, surrounded by
overgrown grass and raw terrain. The station can only
be identified above ground by a disabled access lift and
three entrances: 1, 2 and 3. The latter two are closed to
the public via reinforced metal gates, but the first allows
in the few passengers that use the stop.

One of the three entrances

Inside, once beyond the facade of the entrance,
passengers - some of whom are said to reach the stop via
a van service - are treated to a stunning lobby. Pristine,
it gleams like a mausoleum and provides sharp contrast
to the dusty, dirty outside. The ticket turnstiles are all
brightly illuminated but few people pass through.

It’s slightly baffling why the surrounds of the station

16

haven’t been developed, especially as the CRT was
painstakingly planned by transport experts in advance.
But, either way, as well as being useful for a handful of
commuters, it has become a destination point for locals
intrigued by the apocalyptic-inspired sight. Serving more
than 630 million people each year, the CRT is the world’s
busiest train network, originally opened in 2004. Line 6
was added in 2012.

SOURCE: MailOnline, 24 May 2017.

Underground chambers contain human remains at
Tuam, County Galway, Ireland
A ‘mass grave’ containing the remains of babies and
infants in an ‘underground structure with 20 chambers’
has been reported at the site of a former Roman Catholic
mother and baby home at Tuam in County Galway.
Reportedly over 800 children died at the home. DNA
analysis suggests the remains date from the 1950s, and
are of infants from 15 weeks to three years old.

An Irish Government investigation was commenced
in 2014 as a result of a local historian finding death
certificates for nearly 800 children, but only two matching
burial records, suggesting unrecorded and unmarked
graves. Suspicions were aroused as a result of boys
playing at the site reporting a ‘pile of bones’ in a ‘hidden
underground chamber’ in the 1970s.

SOURCE: GRIERSON, Jamie, 2017, Mass grave found
at Irish Catholic care home. The Guardian , 4 March
2017, page 22.

Lost underground print works discovered on
Plymouth Hoe, Devon

Hidden bunkers and basements used by an old printing
press have been unearthed by builders working on a £5m
housing development on Plymouth Hoe..

Plymouth firm West Hoe Developments is constructing
a four-storey property block with a surgery on a patch of
land that was used as a car park for 60 years. But it turns
out the site plays a significant part in the history of city -
the comer plot was home to international publishing firm
W. Brendon and Sons Ltd, which was bombed during the
Plymouth Blitz in 1941.

Due to the devastation of the city, many parts were
scattered and buried. The site opened as a car park in
1945. Since contractors have been on site, they’ve found

six old pre-war printers, a steam engine, and remains of
a printed Alice in Wonderland book. Old basements and
bunkers used by the old publishers have also been found -
which contractors initially assumed was a mystery tunnel
leading to Drake’s Island.

SOURCE: The (Plymouth) Herald , 21 June 2017.
Mapping the UK’s underground
The uppermost layers of rock underlying the United
Kingdom have been comprehensively exploited by the
sinking of wells, driving of tunnels, excavation of mines
and quarries, and digging of all sorts of subterranean
cavities for sundry purposes. Many of these interventions
are poorly documented or mapped, resulting in costly
over-runs of, for example, large civil engineering
projects, and they have implications for the security
of much of the country’s public water supply from
underground sources.

The British Geological Survey, based at Keyworth near
Nottingham, is now setting out to collect and coordinate
all available information in a manipulatable database. BGS
are building three-dimensional maps of the uppermost five
kilometres of the subsurface called UK3D. This can be
downloaded free from BGS.AC.UK and opened in Google
Earth with rotating, tilting and zoom functions.
SOURCE: BEGGAN, Ciaran, 2016, Revealing the UK’s
hidden depths. Planet Earth, Winter 2016 / 2017, page 24
[Planet Earth is published by the Natural Environment
Research Council].

British expat couple turn Spanish tunnels into luxury
B&B

A British expat couple put their entire livelihoods on the
line to turn a set of four tunnels into a unique bed and
breakfast.

The tunnels before work started

One of the completed rooms in the luxury B&B

17

Decorator Mark and his former sales rep wife Shirley,
from Edinburgh, bought a property for £21,707 in
Andalusia, on the southern coast of Spain, which
is also known as ‘cave country’. They successfully
built themselves a house before setting their sights on
becoming hoteliers by transforming the adjacent tunnels
into a B&B in the hope that guests would pay £104 a
night for the experience - bringing in a potential annual
income of £17,363. They bored into the hillside to link
the tunnels together to create a three-bed dream B&B.
The couple hoped their new property would allow them
both to slow down and support them financially in their
later years.

Ploughing £78,000 into renovating the tunnels, they were
forced to halt the project when they encountered major
problems. Discrepancies in the deeds and the land registry
meant not only did they not have planning permission,
but the caves they were building weren’t actually theirs.
For three months, the property stood still with their
dreams threatening to collapse. The cave walls began to
crumble without any support from the usual plaster that’s
applied to stop this from happening.

At one time it seemed likely that the Spanish local
authorities had the right to force them to demolish all of
their building work. However after an anxious wait they
were allowed to complete their ambitious build which
was done in ten weeks allowing their new venture to be
ready for the 2017 season.

SOURCE: MailOnline, 12 June 2017.

Under-road voids, Dublin, Ireland
Over 200 ‘underground archaeological features’ have
been recorded under two of the oldest streets in Dublin,
James’ Street and Thomas Street. These include 18th- and
19th-century coal cellars, and part of a post-medieval
tanning pit.

SOURCE: GIACOMETTI, A., 2017, Dublin, James and
Thomas Street. Post-Medieval Archaeology 50 (3), page
506 [Abstract]

Nottingham archaeologist finds his 152nd new cave
in 12 months

Sonic Barbers, in Derby Road, has a 200-year-old cave
below its cellar. It can be accessed through a hatch and
was most likely used as a medicine store, Mr Lomax said.
Hundreds of man-made caves dating back as far as the
ninth century lie waiting to be discovered underneath
Nottingham, the city’s archaeologist Scott Lomax has
claimed.

Scott Lomax uncovered his 152nd new cave in the city in
just 12 months in July. The cave has been found below the
cellar at Sonic Barbers, in Derby Road. The cave, which
is about 2m in height and about the same in diameter,
had been partially filled with rubble, preventing safe
access into it. Either side are rock-cut thralls, which are
benches on which goods were kept, essentially shelves.
The chamber would have been dug and used by the people

who lived there and was probably used as a medicine
store. Nottingham is built on soft sandstone making
it easier to dig into, but strong enough for structural
stability.

Some homes in Nottingham are built into sandstone

rock faces

While some people are aware of caves underneath their
property, many had not been officially recorded and
hundreds of undiscovered caves underneath shops and
houses are waiting to be found in Nottingham. In the
past many have been used to dispose of rubbish, making
access difficult.

Derby Road has become a hotbed for caves and, while
new ones are being found regularly, one spacious cave
is the setting for a pub’s restaurant.

SOURCE: BBC News Nottingham, 22 July 2017.

English Channel power cables linking England to
France

Times of peak demand for electricity in England and
France do not coincide, so four pairs of 43 km cables
allow current to flow in either direction as required to
allow efficient use of generating stations, and to provide
for continuation of supply in emergencies.

Half of the cables were damaged and taken out of use
early in 2017 by a ship’s anchor dropped when two
vessels collided during an 80 mph storm. The link
supplies about 5% of the UK’s electricity consumption.
Usually most power flows to England, but during the
last three months of 2016 the UK was a net exporter to
France as a result of nuclear power station shut-downs
in that country.

Currently an additional power link is being constructed,
routed through the Channel Tunnel. This is scheduled to
become operational in 2020, with most energy imported
to the UK generated in nuclear stations in France, and
most exported from wind-powered installations. All UK
stations burning coal are expected to have been closed
by 2025, and a new UK nuclear station at Hinkley will
be at work no earlier than that. Additional international
cable connections to Norway and Sweden are expected
to become available from the 2020s.

SOURCE: VAUGHAN, Adam, 2017, UK boosts
electricity connections with France. Work begins on
£495m cross-Channel cable. The Guardian , 1 March
2017, page 22.

18

Gilmerton Cove, Edinburgh, Scotland

It is not for want of trying that your scribe has failed
to gain access to a small network of rooms and tunnels
excavated in sandstone at Drum Street, Gilmerton, a
short bus ride south of Edinburgh. Published descriptions
conjure up images of similar places in Nottingham and
even Reigate.

A suggested origin is eighteenth-century trial tunnelling
in search of coal where, none being found, the cavities
found a secondary use as a drinking den. An inspection in
2000 resulted in the conclusion that intensive secondary
use has obliterated any original archaeological features
that might indicate a primary purpose.

Members of the Grampian Speleological Group have
arranged access from time to time, and most recently
scientists from the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh
have employed ground-penetrating radar in a search of
further and perhaps less defaced cavities. Evidence for
a further chamber which may contain less compromised
archaeology is hinted at. A small sketch plan of the rooms
and tunnels made in 1968 accompanies the cited report.
SOURCE: ANON, 2017, Gilmerton Cove Research
Project. Bull. Grampian Speleological Group, 5th Series,
2(2), page 10.

Fort Knox-style bunker offers mega-rich Brits a
secure place to hide valuables

Britain’s super-rich are being offered a place to hide their
most valuable items - in a Fort Knox-style, bombproof
bunker created in a former library basement.

The 10,000 sq ft underground facility, which cost
£30million to build, is situated up to 40ft below ground
and has one-metre thick ferrous-concrete walls. It has
been designed to be virtually bombproof, fire-resistant
and watertight and is aimed at people who need a secure
facility following the Hatton Garden heist.

Wealthy clients looking to hide artwork, jewellery and
other valuable or confidential items enter the bunker-
style complex, called Armitage Vaults, through a discreet
entrance off Bolsover Street, central London. After
going through video entry security doors, they are led
into a manned security room and loading bay. The bay
opens on to a special goods lift which goes down to the
subterranean facility.

The facility has 135 steel-lined, climate controlled units

The underground facility was previously used as the
library, records office and storage centre for the Royal
National Institute for the Blind. Built in 1920-21 to
designs by Claude Ferrier, the complex stored the medical
records, glasses and other products made for the blind
and partially sighted. The depository also stored sight¬
testing equipment; embossing and print machinery for
Braille and the first prototypes of the Braille alphabet
and music notation.

SOURCE: The Mirror, 23 January 2017.

Global warming threat to repository designed to
protect seed bank from the effects of climate change,
Svalbard

The purpose of a tunnelled repository on the Norwegian
Arctic island of Svalbard (Spitzbergen), opened in
2008, is the long-term preservation of viable seeds of
the world’s most important crop plants through global
catastrophes resulting from climate change, sea level
rise, and other causes. The idea is that if, anywhere or
everywhere, agriculture is wiped out, the cultivation of
food plants could be recommenced. Almost a million
packets of seeds are stored at a temperature of -18° C
(0° F).

The Svalbard repository is approached by a tunnel driven
through what was thought to be permanently frozen
ground (permafrost). Unfortunately global warming has
resulted in the repository being threatened. After The
world’s hottest year’ summer temperatures in the Arctic
soared, and average temperatures on Svalbard were 7°
C above normal in 2016.

Ice in the ‘permafrost’ started melting, and there was
heavy rain when snow would normally have been falling.
Meltwater started to flow into the 100m entrance tunnel,
but fortunately did not reach the seeds’ storage area. It
was thought at the outset that the repository would not
need to be permanently staffed or monitored, but it is now
being re-engineered and its management plan revised.
SOURCE: CARRINGTON, Damian, 2017, Arctic
stronghold of vital seeds flooded after permafrost melts.
The Guardian , 20 May 2017, pagel9.

IEditor’s note : The Svalbard seed bank was featured in an
article in Subterranea 29 (April 2012), page 76.]

19

NEWS - PUBLICATIONS

Wealden Cave and Mine Society publishes Cave &
Quarry 1:

Out of sight and out of mind: subterranean industrial
archaeology in Surrey

Some excellent and important site investigations,
historical research, and site interpretation is being
conducted and published by Peter Burgess and other
members of the Wealden Cave and Mine Society. The
Society is both a caving club, operating from a caving
cottage in South Wales, and an industrial archaeology
society concerned primarily with mines and other
underground sites in east Surrey.

In addition to a members’ newsletter News of the
Weald, WCMS publishes an occasional journal Cave
and Quarry, the seventh issue of which, for 2016, has
recently been distributed. This is a splendidly presented
printed document containing numerous black and white
and colour photographs, plans and sections and the like.
Of the 98 pages, all but 26 deal with the archaeology
and history of underground sites in Surrey, all the work
of Peter Burgess. The last 26 pages report a caving
expedition to the Philippines.

Two papers deal with silver sand mines in Reigate. One
discusses the several ‘caves’ either side of Tunnel Road
(made in the years 1823-24) and their primary purposes
and secondary uses, and dates relative to each other and to
the tunnel (the oldest surviving road tunnel in the British
Isles). The other presents contemporary newspaper
reports relating to mine subsidences in Reigate. A
third paper has contemporary reports of fatal accidents
and a suicide at several mines (two of the deaths were
underground).

Two reports describe the investigation of a well at Queen’s
Park in Reigate, and a major excavation revealing George
Taylor’s 1890s well and pump-house foundations at
Colley Hill and the underground quarry found during the
well sinking. Evidence for extensive opencast hearthstone
extraction at Colley Hill is discussed.

A further paper speculates on the possible role of springs
exploited during the Roman occupation in the discovery
of building-stone resources and commencement of
quarrying.

Shorter communications report investigations at
Wonersh; a short tunnel of unknown date and purpose
entered via a collapse in a garden in Dorking; a ‘sand
cave’ on the south side of Reigate High Street; and the
investigation of a World War II air-raid shelter for a
school at Earlswood.

The Wealden Cave and Mine Society, based in east
Surrey, is, as its name suggests, a combination of
traditional caving club and group dedicated to man¬
made mines including underground quarries. Since 1992
WCMS has published seven issues of its journal Cave
and Quarry, the latest, consisting of 98 pages including

numerous colour photographs, was dated last year but
only recently circulated.

With the exception of a report on a mainstream caving
visit to the Philippines, the whole of this issue is devoted
to a series of reports by Peter Burgess on archaeological
excavations and historical researchers concerning sites
in Surrey. There are short reports on investigations at
minor sites such as a short tunnel at Dorking, sub-surface
cisterns and a reservoir at Wonersh, and a school air-raid
shelter at Earlswood.

Raven Rock by Garrett M Graff

This is a book that chronicles the US reaction to atomic
and thermonuclear weapons and the work undertaken to
maintain government and ensure the chain of command
(civilian and military) would survive. The period covered
is from the closing days of WWII to after 9/11.

It describes that facilities developed - many of which
are underground - and the arrangements for continuity
of the office of President in the event of a nuclear attack
on the US, which of course became increasingly more
complex as atomic weapons carried by bombers were
replaced as the primary weapon system by ICBMs and
then submarine-carried weapons systems.

There is a very interesting section on how all the prelaid
plans fell apart on 9/11 - partly because of the reduction
of preparatory exercises to ensure that the information
held was up-to-date and that the plans actually worked.
On 9/11 most of them did not.

SOURCE: Brian Matthews
Der Erdstall 43

Subterranea Britannica, established in 1974, was
modelled on two pre-existing societies, the Societe
Frangaise d’Etude des Souterrains in France, and
Arbeitskreis fur Erdstallforschung in Germany. All three
societies continue to flourish, but have developed quite
differently.

Subterranea Britannica has widened its interests from
antiquarian concerns with secret tunnels, garden follies,
ice-houses, and so forth, to include mines and quarries,

20

canal and rail tunnels, military works and Cold War
structures. Our French sister society has moved a
little way in the same direction, including especially
underground quarries within its range of interests. In
Germany, the focus is still very firmly on small rock-cut
underground spaces of former ages, and mostly those in
Bavaria and neighbouring Austria.

Subterranea Britannica exchanges journals with both
sister societies, so we have more or less complete sets
of Subterranea from France, and Der Erdstall from
Germany.

The latest issue of Der Erdstall , for 2017, has recently
arrived, and contains (in German of course) about a
dozen underground sites. The magazine has always been
impressively produced, the latest issue of 133 pages
containing colour photographs, maps and plans, and
archaeological records including drawings of artefacts
recovered from sites.

Since 1974 we have of course formed alliances and
exchange agreements with similar societies in several
other European countries, notably Belgium and the
Netherlands, and we hold sets of their publications too.

NEWS - TUNNELLING

Crossrail to have ‘silent track’ below planned new
concert hall, London

Crossrail, otherwise the Elizabeth line, passes 17 metres
below the Barbican where a new concert hall is planned
for the London Symphony Orchestra. To minimise or
eliminate noise and vibration caused by 90mph trains
disturbing concerts, a section of ‘floating track’ is to be
installed at this location.

SOURCE: WATTS, Matt, 2017, Engineers build ‘silent
track’ for trains below Rattle’s orchestra. Evening
Standard , 22 May 2017, page 4.

Tunnels beneath Croome Court near Worcester open
to the public

Families are being encouraged to experience 200-year-
old tunnels beneath one of Europe’s largest privately
owned Walled Gardens at the National Trust’s Croome
Court, near Worcester.

Rescued from ruin by owners Chris and Karen Cronin,
the tunnels have only recently been restored as part of
a larger self-funded restoration project of greenhouses,
borders and working vegetable plots.

The red-brick heating tunnels, which run underneath the
glass houses, are a great example of the ingenuity and
pioneering spirit that existed within the Walled Gardens
during the early 1800s. Since that time technology has
moved on a great deal and the tunnels have become
redundant, at least as far as their intended purpose goes.
The tunnels were originally constructed to protect and
maintain the hot water pipes which carried heat from
the boiler house and distributed it to the array of nearby
glass houses. Approximately 35m long, the main tunnel
can be walked through in less than a minute. Visitors

don a hard hat and descend a flight of steps in the now
fully restored fig house. Winding their way through the
dimly lit tunnels, which can be a little narrow and low
in places, they come up in the boiler house.

The tunnels were recently featured in a Time Team TV
documentary about Croome. The Walled Gardens will be
open every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday
Monday until the end of September. The Walled Gardens
open from 11am and close at 5pm with last entry at
4.00pm. There is an entrance fee of £5. All the money
raised from the entrance fee is used to help with the costs
of restoration.

SOURCE: Worcester News, 28 July 2017

Thameslink trains could be an ‘exhibit’ at the new
Museum of London at Smithfield, London

The relocated Museum of London, due to open at
Smithfield in 2022, will be alongside the Thameslink
railway tunnel to the south of Farringdon Station. It
has been proposed to incorporate the railway into the
museum displays, with a glass wall between the trains
and the galleries. Museum visitors will be able to watch
the passing trains, and passengers will catch a glimpse
of the museum.

SOURCE: DEX, Robert, 2017, Catch that train at new
Museum of London. Evening Standard , 10 May 2017,
page 22.

New Northern line tunnelling commenced in March
2017, London

Two 650 ton tunnel-boring machines, Amy and Helen,
are being employed to drive the two 3.5 metre diameter
parallel Northern line extension tunnels the 3.2 km
between Kennington and Battersea via Nine Elms. The
TBMs are named after Amy Johnson, the pioneer aviator,
and Helen Sharman, the astronaut.

There will be new subsurface stations at Nine Elms and
Battersea. The machines will bore up to 100 feet daily,
the total of 3.2 km being expected to be completed by
the end of 2017. The extension is scheduled to be opened
to traffic in late 2020 with services from the Charing
Cross branch of the Northern Line running through from
Kennington to Battersea. More than 300,000 tonnes of

21

Tunnelling at Kennington

tunnel spoil will be removed to shafts by conveyors and
taken by barge to East Tilbury to create arable farmland.
SOURCE: PRYNN, Jonathan, 2017, Work on new
Northern line tunnel starts in March. Evening Standard ,
20 January 2017, page 9 and ANON, 2017, Northern line
tunnelling in March. Modern Railways , March 2017 and
May 2017, page 20.

Unfinished prison escape tunnel found in Mexico

Mexican authorities have found a tunnel that connects a
timber house with a state prison and two holes that were
being used to store weapons, drugs and other contraband.
The authorities started a search operation after noticing an
unusual earth movement in the prison of Reynosa, located in
the northeastern Mexican state of Tamauhpas. With the help
of new technology, they found the unfinished tunnel in the
timber house near the jail. The tunnel entrance was covered
with wooden boards and bricks to avoid being discovered.
The tunnel was 16 feet deep, 45 feet long and 4 feet wide.

The Public Security Secretariat said that after the tunnel
was discovered, there was a special police operation to
regain control of the situation.

During this police search, they say they found other
holes that had been dug to store drugs, weapons, mobile
phones, beer, tequila and whisky bottles, construction
tools, knives and even a torture table. The prison has
1,610 inmates, among them 1,546 men and 64 women.
SOURCE: MailOnline, 16 May 2017.

New tunnel opened in Kent

The Hermitage Quarry near Maidstone, a large opencast
mine for Kentish ragstone, has been provided with a new
100m access tunnel to avoid quarry traffic affecting a
public right of way.

SOURCE: ANON, 2017, Kentish ragstone. Outcrop 55,
page 9, Kent: 100m access tunnel opened to serve the
Hermitage opencast ragstone quarry near Maidstone.
[Outcrop is published by the West Sussex Geological Society.]
Proposed second railway tunnel at Lewes, Sussex
Proposals for duplication of the London to Brighton main
railway fine have not been endorsed by a recent consultants’
report commissioned by George Osborne when he was
Chancellor of the Exchequer. The existing main line,
opened in 1841, is now operating at its maximum capacity.
Apart from, as in 1841, conveying trains between London
and Brighton, this line now serves Gatwick Airport, and
direct services to and from south coast destinations from
Southampton as far east as Hastings. Originally with two
tracks throughout, much of the line has been widened to
four tracks wherever economically possible. However
two of the three long tunnels (Balcombe and Clayton)
and the Ouse Valley viaduct remain as double-track
bottlenecks. The third long tunnel, at Merstham, was
duplicated in 1896-99 by the construction of a high¬
speed line bypass from Coulsdon to Earlswood. Station
platforms have been lengthened to accommodate twelve-
coach trains wherever possible, to maximise capacity.
Double-deck trains are ruled out as bridges are too low
and tunnels too narrow to accommodate them.

There is strong local support for reopening the through
route via Oxted and Lewes. Proposals include a new
tunnel under the South Downs at Lewes to allow trains
from Brighton to continue to London without reversing at
the main station, and reopening the former line between
Lewes and Uckfield.

22

There is the additional problem of routing trains into
a London terminus beyond Croydon. Reopening the
former Woodside & South Croydon Railway, closed
in 1983, has been suggested. However part of this line
including the three tunnels under Park Hill is now used
by Croydon’s trams.

SOURCE: ANON, 2017, Study dismisses BML2 plan.
Modern Railways 74(823), page 8.

Abandoned rail tunnel in Northants to be used as
car test bed

Six years after its first conception, planning permission
was granted in February by Daventry District Council,
for the Catesby Aero Research Facility to proceed.

The project is a collaboration between TotalSim Ltd and
ARP (Aero Research Partners). The facility will create a
world leading test facility within the Northamptonshire
area, providing aerodynamic and aeroacoustic analysis
at the highest level.

Catesby Tunnel is a 2.7km long, disused and partially
derelict relic of the railway age. Once suitably remodelled
for the task by the installation of a smooth asphalt
roadway, lighting and end closures amongst other
substantial upgrades, the enclosed body of undisturbed
air within the original tunnel structure provides an ideal
measurement environment for vehicles moving at speed.
The tunnel forms an exceptionally repeatable tool and
will be the only facility of its kind in Europe. Unusually
for ‘proving ground’ type facilities, the Catesby Aero
Research Facility (CARF) is intended to be commercially
available for hire by any customer wishing to evaluate the
aerodynamic characteristics of their vehicles. Customers
are anticipated to range from cycling teams to motorcycle
manufacturers, race car teams to road car enthusiasts,
light vans and truck aftermarket vendors to major motor
manufacturers and OEMs, and will include governmental
and non-governmental organisations.

A LNER 04 emerges from the tunnel in 1949

In addition to the test facility itself is a development
within the old station yard. This will consist of two office
buildings, ten workshop units, and a building used by
research students from Coventry University and The
University of Northampton. The buildings will all be
associated with CARF, and will bring employment within
the motor industry to the Daventry area.

The next stage in the adventure is to secure the funding
necessary to get the project completed. It is anticipated
that the build phase will take approximately two years.
SOURCE: TotalSim Ltd, 23 February 2017.

Guided visits to the Glenfield tunnel on the Leicester
& Swannington Railway, Leicestershire
This single-track railway tunnel, just over a mile long,
opened in 1832, and closed in the 1960s. It was in
1832 the world’s longest railway tunnel. Its primary
purpose was the conveyance of coal trains from mines
in northwest Leicestershire to the West Bridge Wharf at
Leicester. In due course it formed part of the Leicester &
Swannington Railway. The 13 shaft tops are all Listed.

The west portal of Glenfield Tunnel in March 1967
after traffic had ceased

The tunnel is owned by Leicester City Council, who allow
conducted visits to the Glenfield end of the tunnel: for details
contact the Leicestershire Industrial Archaeology Society.
SOURCE: PEARCE, David, 2017, Glenfield tunnel - in
1832, the longest railway tunnel in the world. Industrial
Archaeology News 180, pages 1 and 3.

[Editor's note : The tunnel was visited by members of
Subterranea Britannica on 15 July. A report on the visit
will be published in Subterranea 46.]

Isambard Kingdom Brunei’s birthday and the Box
tunnel

The notion that Isambard Kingdom Brunei (1806-1859)
designed the Box tunnel for the Great Western Railway
to allow the morning sun to shine right through from end
to end on his birthday was, apparently, first published in
1842 in the Devizes Gazette. Both the alignment of the
tunnel and its gradient would have to be exactly right for
the sun’s rays to penetrate the whole length of the bore.
The tunnel was designed by Brunei and made under
his direction in the years 1836-1841. It has a length of
3212 yards and is inclined downwards to the east. It lies
between the sites of the now closed Corsham and Box
stations, Chippenham and Bath Spa now being the nearest
stopping places.

To have measured the exact compass bearing and height
of the sun above the eastern horizon on Brunei’s birthday,
9 April, and to drive a tunnel precisely to be aligned
with it on that date, especially as the railway gradient is
downwards rather than upwards to the east, would have
required some skill.

23

As the main line to Bristol was closed to traffic for
engineering work on 9 April 2017, the Great Western
Railway and Network Rail took the opportunity to find
out if the sun really does shine right through as supposed.
Teams assembled at both ends of the tunnel, the day being
fortuitously one of the brightest of the year.

Sunshine streamed into the east portal. But did it reach the
other end? Observers there could indeed see that the sun
had risen, but it seems direct rays failed to reach them.
Perhaps the globe was a trifle too high or too low in the
sky relative to the tunnel bore. An opinion was voiced
that earlier observers may have seen a reflection of the
sun on water lying on the track which is now well drained
and kept dry. Brunei may well have had commemoration
of his birthday in mind when designing the tunnel and, if
so, got the alignment almost but not quite exactly right.
SOURCE: MORRIS, Steven, 2017, Attempt to shed
light on rail tunnel legend. The Guardian , 11 April 2017,
page 13.

100 Brazilian prisoners escape through 90 ft-long
tunnel

Almost 100 inmates escaped from a jail in Brazil after
digging a 90ft tunnel under the prison walls, it has
emerged. Guards at the Parnamirim State Penitentiary in
Rio Grande do Norte found the tunnel and the empty cells
in the early hours of the morning. They also found piles
of clothes by the exit to the hole after prisoners discarded
their uniforms, changed into civilian clothes and sprinted
off to wait at a nearby road for getaway cars to ferry them
away from the jail, according to local reports.

More escapes were only thwarted when the heavily armed
Military Police surrounded the jail and sealed the tunnel.
According to reports, nine of the inmates have been
found, while police are attempting to catch the remaining
82. Parnamirim prison was hugely overcrowded with
589 detainees in a facility designed for 382, according
to figures from local judiciary services.

The would-be escapee stuck in the excrement-coated tunnel

Last year another attempted Brazilian tunnel jail break
was less successful. In a high security prison, there are
few escape options available - with concrete walls and
metal bars designed specifically to keep criminals from
getting loose. One luckless inmate thought he had found

a possible way out by slithering headfirst into the sewage
tunnel under the toilet. The prisoner appears to have had
some success getting to the first bend in the pipes, before
he got into difficulty. Sadly for him, he was soon well
and truly stuck down the excrement-coated pipes, with
his upper body getting wedged down the tunnel.

After desperately trying to wriggle himself to freedom,
the man finally admitted defeat and called for help.
By gripping onto his extremely skinny legs, two men
managed to pull the prisoner back out of the tunnel and
into the toilet.

SOURCE: MailOnline, 26 May 2017 & Sunday Express,
6 January 2016

Canal news from Dudley, West Midlands

The Dudley Canal Trust and Dudley Canal Trust (Trips)
Ltd are being amalgamated into a single organisation, the
Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust. Based at a canal basin
alongside the Black Country Museum, the Trust runs
canal boat trips through the Dudley canal tunnel and into
the linked limestone mines. Both the museum and the
tunnel / mine trips are highly recommended.
Subterranea Britannica has organised Study Weekends
based in the Black Country several times, and members
have been impressed by developments at both sites.
Sadly, we learn that Vic Smallshire, our contact at Dudley,
died recently.

SOURCE: The Legger 241 (Autumn 2016) and letter
from Richard Jones (Membership Secretary).

Revived proposal for a rail tunnel under central
Manchester

Transport for Greater Manchester is to consider the
feasibility of providing tunnelled Metro services under
the city, thus re-examining an early 1970s proposal
for a rail tunnel to link the Manchester Piccadilly
and Manchester Victoria stations. That scheme was
abandoned on cost grounds in 1977.

SOURCE: TRANSPORT FOR GREATER
MANCHESTER, 2017, Picc-Vic reborn? Modern
Railways 74 (822), page 11.

Plans for a new tram tunnel under the Thames
Proposals for a £600 million privately funded tram system
linking north Kent with Essex have received cross-party
support.

With London Paramount and Ebbsfleet Garden City on
the horizon but the Lower Thames Crossing at least a
decade away, proposals have been drawn up for a new
public transport system to connect north Kent and Essex.
People hoping to get across the Thames without the use
of a car must use either the X80 bus service between
Bluewater and Lakeside or the ferry between Gravesend
and Tilbury, which combined, make up around 1% of the
total traffic using the Dartford Crossing.

The £600 million KenEx Thames Transit is designed to
relieve pressure on the often congested crossing, combat
air pollution, and boost the economy on both sides of

24

the river. It is the brainchild of financial accountant
Gordon Pratt, who previously worked with the London
and Southern Counties Railway Consortium to come up
with Brighton Main Line Two, a planned second railway
connecting Brighton with the capital.

Mr Pratt believes KenEx Thames Transit would take
about 10% of the traffic away from the Dartford Crossing,
which falls just short of the 14% Highways England
believes the Lower Thames Crossing will divert. KenEx
Thames Transit would carry an estimated 58 million
journeys to Bluewater each year - 36 million to London
Paramount, 53 million to Lakeside, and 2.5 million to
Ebbsfleet International.

SOURCE: KentOnline, 29 May 2017.

Tunnel network discovered under shopping centre in
Dartford, Kent

Subsidence fears forced the Primark store in Dartford,
to carry out emergency repairs to its store following the
appearance of a sink hole in the car park in May. It was
caused by an unknown network of tunnels believed to be
of WWII or WWI origin. It is the second time in three
years that the ground has sunk because of the tunnels.
The network of passages was discovered when a sinkhole
operned up in 2015 and led to emergency repair work
being carried out.

Photo from Thanet Hidden History

When the company that owns the shopping centre
submitted a Freedom of Information request to the
Ministry of Defence in 2015 asking for details of the
tunnels and their previous usage, the Government said
it held “no information” on the issue.

The Primark store re-opened at the end of July with many
shoppers unaware they were walking above a hidden
network of tunnels.

SOURCE: Independent, 1 August 2017

The world’s most capacious tunnel, for sea-going

shipping, to be driven in Norway

The southwest coast of Norway has long proved
challenging for sea-going ferries on account of rocks and
capricious currents. A short cut for sea-going vessels,
avoiding difficult waters, is now to be provided by driving

a 1,700 metres long tunnel through the narrowest part
of the Stadlandet peninsula. The Stad ship canal tunnel
is to be 37 metres high and 26.5 metres wide. Work is
expected to commence in 2019, with completion in 2023.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS, 2017, Norway to
build the world’s first tunnel for ships. The Guardian ,
4 April 2017, page 18.

FUTURE NEWS

For your diary

Information about a couple of forthcoming underground
conferences in Europe, both of which combine
presentations and visits.

1) The 40th SFES ( Societe Frangaise d’Etude des
Souterrains) Congres will take place in Laon from 20-22
October 2017. Laon is just over two hours’ drive from
Calais and the theme of the Congres is ‘Underground
Space in War and Subterranean Warfare’. Visits will
include sites used in conflicts from the 13th to the 20th
century and some local mines.

A number of Sub Brit members visited the SFES
Congress when it was last held in Laon 16 years ago.
The quality of the presentations, visits and food was
superb. One site that is particularly moving is the
Caverne du Chemin des Dames - an extended stone
quarry that was used by both sides in WWI, sometimes
simultaneously. Internal walls were built to provide an
underground front line.

More information and booking details are at

www.subterranea.fr/congres-2017/

Caverne du Chemin des Dames. Photo Paul Arps
2) A website with early booking details for the 3rd
International Congress of Artificial Cavities has been
set up at www.hypogea2019.org/ . The event will take
place in Dobrich, Bulgaria, from 20-25 May 2019. A
long way ahead, but the organisers are making an early
call for papers and presentations. All presentations at
the Hypogea will be in English so it would be good to
get a decent Sub Brit turnout. Sites to be visited will
include rock-carved churches and monasteries, cave
dwellings and quarries.

SOURCE: Martin Dixon.

25

Sub Brit Visit to Clifton, Bristol, March 2017

Chris Rayner

The top of the south side steps to the right, and the original Rocks Railway Waiting Room and a wartime First Aid Post on the left

The vaults within the Leigh Woods abutment to Clifton
Suspension Bridge and the Clifton Rocks Railway have
many differences, but also some similarities which are
less obvious. One link between them is that they are dark
(or would be with the lights out) and also semi-buried,
and that’s probably the main reason why 24 Sub Brit
members gathered on a chilly but sunny March morning
in Clifton, on the west side of Bristol.

Clifton east abutment tower in foreground with the west
Leigh Woods abutment beyond at the far end of the bridge

The Leigh Woods abutment, on the western side, was
built by Isambard Kingdom Brunei to shorten the span

of his suspension bridge across Clifton Gorge, and it’s
not obvious at first glance that there is any internal space.
We are not alone in not recognising this though, as the
knowledge that the abutment was hollow was lost for
nearly a century and a half.

The story of the Clifton Suspension Bridge begins in 1753
when William Vick, a wealthy merchant, left £1,000 in his
will to build a bridge at this spot. He had some foresight:
Clifton would become a prosperous suburb of Bristol
during the next eight decades and the growth of the city
itself would make a gorge crossing here a high priority.
The location was the obvious one, as this was where the
potential span was least, but the engineering challenges
in spanning such a gap were, for that time, formidable.
Brunei 1, Telford 0

By 1829, that original legacy had increased with interest
to £8,000, and the Trustees thought that the time was ripe
to hold a design competition. That didn’t settle matters,
requiring a second one to be held a couple of years later
in 1831. A number of engineers were approached but two
would be particularly prominent in this process.
Thomas Telford, who had recently built the Menai
Straits bridge, was one, and although he was not one
of the original competitors, he became involved when

26

approached by the judges after they failed to agree on a
winning design for the first competition. Telford grandly
said a span of 580ft (176m) was the maximum possible,
and then came up with his own design that had two tall
gothic-inspired towers on the mudbanks of the gorge
which perfectly reduced the span to his magic number.
It was not a thing of beauty by any means, but it looked,
for a short while, as though he would be appointed.

He had reckoned without the indefatigability of Brunei,
though. Brunei’s refusal to give up on the project was
remarkable. He put in four entries for the first competition
but still didn’t win, and then when the judges seemed to
be on the point of commissioning Telford to carry out
the project, Brunei immediately countered with a new
design that he claimed would cost £10,000 less. That led
to a second competition and when another practice won,
Brunei still wasn’t daunted and eventually persuaded the
judges to appoint him instead.

His design was for a suspension bridge with a longer span
(700ft / 214m) than Telford had said was possible, and he
achieved this by building two brick abutments on either side
of the gorge. The one on the Clifton side was minimal because
the cliff was nearly vertical here, but at the Leigh Woods end,
on the west side, a much more substantial brick abutment
was needed. These abutments would be the bases for the two
towers from which the bridge would be suspended.

never be completed, and some even called for the towers
to be demolished.

Tying the Knot

There was not complete inactivity at the crossing site
though. As a first step in spanning the gorge, a one-and-
quarter-inch diameter cable had been strung across it.
This would be the only aerial crossing for the next two
decades and was used in a similar way to a breeches buoy,
intrepid travellers paying five shillings for the privilege
of crossing in a dangling basket. They would get halfway
across with the help of gravity and then get winched up
the remaining length of cable.

Access ladder down to entrance chamber entrance recently
cut by the Bridge Trust through the 2m thick red sandstone
abutment wall

Clifton Suspension bridge seen from the south, with the Leigh Woods
abutment under the left hand tower
It looked like he was there when they started work in
1831, but in a matter of days there were riots in Bristol
about electoral reform, and local business confidence was
so badly damaged that work stopped for five years. Work
on the abutments resumed in 1836 but then the contractors
became bankrupt the following year. New contractors
were appointed and work resumed, but finally in 1843
funds ran out and the project once again ground to a halt.

This time there would be a break of nineteen years.

Brunei saw the completion of the abutments and the
towers but sadly died before work was resumed in 1862.

The long hiatus led many to think that the project would

A bridegroom thought this would be the ideal
wedding gift for his new wife but the voyage
turned out to be a little more involved than
he’d expected when the winch rope broke as
they were being hauled up the other side. They
were left hanging for several hours before a
way of rescuing them was set in progress.
History doesn’t record what they talked about
during those hours as they waited.

The project resumed in 1863 when new funds
were raised by fellow engineers who wanted
to complete the bridge as a fitting tribute to
the late Brunei. In the intervening period the
wrought-iron chains that had been made to
carry the bridge had been sold off, but they
managed to obtain the redundant wrought-
iron chains from London’s old Hungerford
Bridge which was at that time being replaced.
These chains were connected up in parallel series and
run over the towers at each end of the bridge and then
buried deep in the ground on the far banks, anchored in
83ft / 25m-long tapering tunnels and plugged with brick
to prevent them from being pulled out.

Where the chains run over the towers, they rest on saddles
comprised of rollers, to allow the bridge to move as the
weight on it changes with passing traffic and with the
wind. It was quite a surprise to stand at the edge of the
bridge platform and see how much the roadway would
deflect as cars went over.

27

The Leigh Woods tower has a nice Latin dedication at
its top: Suspensa Vix Via Fit which roughly translates as
“a suspended way made with difficulty”; a reference to
the original benefactor and providing something for the
workmen to have a good chuckle about.

When the bridge platform was eventually built, it was
subjected to a load test where 500 tons of material was
placed at the centre of the bridge and the deflection was
measured. This came within the design parameters and,
when the loading was removed, the bridge returned to its
original position. A remarkable achievement considering
the materials and engineering design knowledge at the time.
Under the Bridge

The Leigh Woods abutment is in fact hollow, and contains
vaulted chambers on two levels, seven vaults on the upper
level and five beneath them on the lower level. The extra
two vaults on the upper level are on the west, landward
side and come about because of the gentler gradient away
from the cliff edge. These two are rectangular in plan
with barrel-vaulted roofs, and are aligned parallel with
the gorge sides. The most westerly of these is curtailed by
the rising ground surface, while the other one, possibly
the largest in terms of volume, is the one we first entered
as we were led into the abutment interior through a new
specially cored opening.

Inside the entrance chamber, declared proudly by our guide
to be three double-decker buses high, showing some of the
original bedrock that the vaults were built around

The other ten gorge-side chambers are on two floors, five
above and five below, and the floors are identical apart
from the intrusion of the cliff face into the west side of the
lower level chambers. Each floor is symmetrical in plan,
a central, long rectangular transverse chamber facing
the gorge (this was the second chamber we entered, on
the upper level) with two pairs of smaller chambers on
either side. These smaller chambers are ovoid in plan and
apparently have domed brick roofs.

Between these smaller chambers is a central ring passage
and a vertical shaft connecting the two levels. There is
also a tight crawl space, circular in section, running from
the central transverse chamber to this ring between the
two outer chambers. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed
to explore this, but one could see that, once one had

slithered up a couple of feet through the brick wall from
the central transverse chamber, there was a vertical shaft
with the top of a ladder visible.

This was the start of the vertical shaft leading down to the
lower level. If one wanted to visit the two outer chambers
instead, one would have to crawl across the vertical
shaft to get into the ring passage, and thence into one of
these two outer chambers. The Clifton Bridge website
has an interesting video clip showing their survey team
accessing these lower chambers.

Inside the transverse chamber (the second one visited)
looking east, showing the scale of the vault, the numerous
straw stalactites, and side platforms leading to crawl holes
though to the outer chambers

It seems bizarre that the vaults could have been forgotten
about, but that has been put down to the two-decade
break in construction in the mid-nineteenth century,
during which records must have been lost. Even so, the
likelihood of the abutments being hollow must have been
in the minds of the bridge’s inspecting engineers in the
intervening period. An attempt to check whether voids
were present in the abutment was made in the 1990s but
they unluckily hit a spot between chambers which was
solid brickwork, giving them a false reading.

Straw Stalactites

The discovery of the vaults came about by accident when,
in 2002, a 15m-deep hole was found by workmen under
the roadway at the western end of the bridge. Coming
down into a large chamber (the one that we first entered
on our visit) the contractors were amazed by the scale
of the space. They could not find any timber scaffolding
from the original construction of the vaults, so all of this
must have been removed by the vault builders in the
1850s. The contractors said that the air was good and
that there was no smell, nor any dead animal remains.
They also reported 30ft (approx 9m) long stalactites. The
rapid growth of stalactites was a surprise to them, because
many believed at that time that stalactites grew at a rate
of one inch per century. These are technically “straw
stalactites” however, where the lime-bearing solution
passes down a central void and deposits material at the
bottom lip of the straw, and also of course on the ground
below where much smaller stalagmites have formed.

28

In these stalactites, the internal diameter of the straw is
exactly equal to the diameter of the water drop.

Manhole access in transverse chamber floor leading down
to roof of lower level chamber (stalagmites forming more
slowly on the floor adjacent)

In the roof of the first chamber we entered we could see
the manhole that the 2002 contractors had used to gain
entry, which is now once again concealed at surface level
by road metalling. One can also see recesses in the walls
where the original roof-vault form work had slotted in.
Within the central transverse chamber there are also
several metal bolt heads on rotten timber packers,
because Brunei had provided tie bars to restrain the outer
chambers. The use of timber packers is odd, suggesting
that it was a short-term solution that could have been
bolstered up if there had been any early evidence of lateral
movement. It seems unlike Brunei to build in a problem
for the future. As the timbers packers have now largely
rotted, and the bridge’s current engineers have found no
evidence of movement in the outer walls, these tie bars
must have been an additional factor of safety that Brunei
provided, just in case.

The ties are only across the outer chambers and don’t
continue across the central transverse chamber, so
presumably Brunei relied on the walls between central
chamber and outer chambers to restrain any movement.
All too soon it was time to leave the vaults and climb back
up again to the Interpretative Centre where the two parties
of Sub Britters were reunited. The Bridge Trustees have
limited vault visits to a maximum of twelve persons other
than their guides at any one time, hence the two Sub Brit
groups. This limit appears to be strictly enforced, although
a recent performance inside the first vault of the play
Orpheus and Eurydice stretched a point by allowing in
the four-person cast in addition to the audience of twelve.
Before descending into the Rocks tunnel we also had time
to explore St Vincent’s Cave on the cliffs above the Avon
Gorge. Unfortunately only one of the Sub Brit parties had
time to visit this local tourist attraction.

The Giants’ cave

According to old Bristolian folklore, Bristol was once
home to two giants, Goram and Ghyston. The giants lived
in a high cave, overlooking the river. History tells how

the cave was part of a small chapel in 305 AD; it was
accessed from the cliff top. Romano-British pottery has
revealed that it may have been a holy place and place of
refuge. During the seventeeth century it is believed that
it was home to a man living in religious solitude.

This gives an indication of the size of St Vincent’s Cave,
thought by early residents to be the home of two giants,
Goram and Ghyston. During the 17th century it
was home to an anchorite, a religious recluse

On the cliff top above the cave a windmill for grinding
corn was erected in 1766; it was later converted for
grinding snuff. The mill was damaged by fire in October
1777, when the sails were left turning during a gale
and caused the equipment to catch alight. The building
remained derelict for over 50 years until 1828 when
William West, an artist, rented the old mill for 5 shillings
a year, as a studio.

Observatory and camera obscura
West installed telescopes and a camera obscura, which
were used by artists of the Bristol School to draw the
Avon Gorge and Leigh Woods on the opposite side. Many
examples of these paintings can be seen in Bristol City
Museum and Art Gallery. The pictures which originated
from images within the camera obscura he called
‘photogenic drawing’ and were based on the work of
pioneer photographer William Fox Talbot.

St Vincent’s Cave (aka Ghyston’s or Giants’ Cave), accessed
via a steep tunnel running from beneath the Clifton
Observatory. This tunnel was completed in 1837 to provide
an airy lookout onto the gorge prior to the bridge being built

29

railway tunnel, while the second group descended to the
former low-level station to start there.

The Sub Brit website has a very thorough account of
the railway and its history, so this report mainly picks
up on some of the items our guide mentioned and some
general impressions.

We heard how the railway had come into being, having
been built between 1891 and 1893 as an underground
funicular railway connecting the wealthy hilltop suburb
of Clifton to the Hotwells spa and river transport links
running beside the river Avon below. This was an
impressive feat of engineering, and had required a couple
of years of blasting and excavation through the heavily
faulted limestone cliffs of the Avon Gorge. The tunnel
was then lined with very thick brick walls and given a
vaulted brick roof to catch any falls from the rock roof.
Four tramcar tracks were built which then operated more
or less daily for the next four decades.

A 5” convex lens and sloping mirror were installed on
the top of the tower; these projected the panoramic view
vertically downward into the darkened room (<camera
obscura) below. Visitors could view the true image (not
a mirror image) on a fixed circular table five feet in
diameter with a concave white metal surface, and turn
the mirror by hand to change the direction of view.

SubBrit member Richard West, having just limboed down
the 60m long tunnel to St Vincent's Cave, now prepares
to climb the final steps up to the lookout point

St Vincent’s Cave

In 1835, William West began excavating a tunnel to the
cave below. It took two years for him to complete the
steeply inclined tunnel which is 200 ft in length. The
cave opens out on the cliff face, 250 ft above the Avon
gorge and 90 ft below the cliff top. A platform with a
chest-high modem railing allows visitors nowadays to
walk out above thin air and see the bottom of the gorge
through a grid beneath their feet, allowing spectacular
views of the suspension bridge and river below.

The Clifton Rocks Railway

Back on the east side, our destination for the afternoon
was the Clifton Rocks Railway, conveniently positioned
only a couple of hundred metres away from the bridge.
The railway, a funicular, was associated with travel in
a different direction, in this case down the slope of the
gorge rather than across it. Here the two Sub Brit groups
once again parted, one group starting at the top of the

The surviving entrance steps to the Rocks Railway ticket
office (originally there was also a second set that ran from
behind the camera)

Each car consisted of an upper passenger section, with a
triangular chassis angled to suit the gradient of the tunnel.

Each car could accommodate 18 seated passengers
and had sliding doors at either end

We began in the low-level station entrance hall, which
contains the clack valve used to help retain the head
of water in a pumped system. Above our heads would
have been the original pumps that were the operating
mechanism for the Rocks Railway. Water was stored
beneath our feet in a reservoir, and would then be pumped
up to the top of the tunnel where it would be piped into

30

Top of the Rocks Railway with two full pairs of tracks in the
centre (one has a model railway car at its base), and single rails
only of the two outer tracks (the other rails would have run where
the stairs were installed behind the wartime blast walls)

Section near the top of the railway that was not used in the
war due to its proximity to the surface, looking though a
post-war viewing opening through the stair side blast wall

Original entrance turnstile at the top of the Rocks railway,
now used as part of their museum

the uphill car, which would then descend under gravity,
pulling up the lower car at the same time.

As all of the work was being done in bringing the cars
up to the high-level station, passengers were charged one
penny to go up and only a ha’penny to go down the cliff.
Apparently, these clack valves are rarely seen because
they are usually abandoned at the base of mines. To
carry out the pumping, there would also have been two
Crossley town gas engines and pumping equipment

An Edwardian postcard showing the lower station. This
entrance survives but in 1956 cracks were noticed between
the masonry of the lower station facade and the face of the
limestone cliffs. Tubular steel scaffolding was used to shore
up the facade and this remains in place today

The original Rocks Railway low station waiting room,
with timber panelling concealing steelwork
with reinforced concrete infill

in the chamber above our heads. As this floor carried
the pumping equipment and had to contend with a
high loading and a great deal of vibration, the floor
incorporated reinforced concrete between steel beams,
a novel feature at the time that the structure was being
built at the end of the nineteenth century.

Auntie goes underground

This section would later be adapted for use by the BBC
during World War II. The tunnel had been out of use since
the railway had closed in 1934 but the war offered the
prospect of renewed use. Imperial Airways, shortly to
become BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation),
was first to see the possibilities the tunnel afforded as a
bombproof shelter and took over the upper section of
the abandoned railway for use as a combined barrage
balloon repair workshop and a staff air-raid shelter since
it was next door to their requisitioned headquarters in the
Clifton Spa Hotel.

The BBC’s connection with the site came about by
chance as it had really wanted the hotel as its wartime
headquarters but had been beaten to it by Imperial
Airways. As a peace offering, the airline board invited a
couple of BBC executives to dinner in their new premises,

31

The BBC control room during WWII. This room handled all the
home and overseas programmes of the BBC during the war

Sections used as offices and for barrage balloon repair

Avon Gorge Hotel (originally Grand Spa Hotel) with its
Pump Room on the left side. The Rocks railway top station is
to the rear of the camera

and during an air-raid alert took them down into their
shelter in the high-level station.

The BBC managers immediately realised the site’s
potential and started a lengthy process of trying to find
out who they needed to approach about the purchase of
the low-level station.

Getting together representatives of all the bodies that
might have ownership rights took some doing, and a
meeting was held inside the tunnel. The latter turned out
to be a masterly stroke as the Regional Commissioner,
who was also in attendance, objected to having drips
from the ceiling fall on his head and brought the
meeting to a speedy conclusion. The BBC was allowed
to buy the low-level station, and began the process of
converting it into five floors of accommodation that
would come to be known as their Tunnel Fortress.

At the top of the south side wartime access stairs, where
the reinforced concrete ceiling shows how close to the
surface, and thus more vulnerable, it is

This included, from the fifth floor down, a transmitter
room, a studio for up to fifteen people complete with
piano and gramophone, a recording room, a permanently
manned control room linked by eighty land lines to radio
stations around the country, and finally a lower, ground-
floor level with emergency generators, gas-protected
ventilation plant, and a canteen.

There is more room on this lowest level as the tunnel was
built with a 60ft or so horizontal section before inclining
upwards. A stairway was left at one side of the BBC offices
to allow for access between floors and also escape in either
direction in the case one or other of the tunnel entrances
got blocked during bombing. Ladders were also provided
between floors to give further escape possibilities.

BBC Transmitter Room, the topmost level of the BBC section
Many traces of the wartime ventilation system remain,
including fallen ductwork, old hangers on the walls and
a high-level hole in the wall where it had passed through

32

SubBrit member Mike Stace looking into the
BBC Transmitter Room

into the plant room. Our guide said they would love to
hear from a services engineer who could tell them more
about how the system had operated.

Plant room in the wartime BBC section of Clifton Rocks
railway, showing applied corrugated sheeting to keep
masonry falls from damaging machinery, and also some
fallen ventilation ductwork. The wall at the right hand side
is the external wall visible from Portway Road

BBC plant room looking towards the external wall

A Night on the Terraces

The remaining middle section of the tunnel would
subsequently become a public air-raid shelter with
assistance from Queen Mary. Two sets of concrete
stairs were built on either side of the tunnel, separated
by low-level brick blast walls from three central
shelter compartments running down the slope. These

compartments were separated from one another by cross¬
slope blast walls between which toilets were placed.
The old funicular railway track was then covered over
with pre-cast concrete planks to form terraced steps on
which shelterers would have sat like an audience in a
small and very uncomfortable theatre.

To make the surface more homely and a bit drier to sit on,
the terraces were covered with linoleum, scraps of which
still survive. Another measure to improve conditions and
keep shelterers dry involved a canvas anti-drip sheet
being draped above the central shelter sections, draining
to triangular wooden gutters fixed against the side of the
blast wall.

Lowermost shelter section 3 showing the precast concrete
floor planks installed during the war when the centre level
because an ARP shelter. Wartime blast walls form the sides
with the access stairs on both sides behind them. The slenderest
volunteers have been able to squeeze between the floor planks
to search for relics dropped by the shelterers on the floor on
which the original railway tracks were laid

North side stairs with upper level access
to shelter section 3 visible

The railway covered the 240ft (72m) vertical distance
between the stations at a gradient of about 25 degrees
but the stairs alongside the two perimeter walls feel
steeper than that, and it must have seemed bizarre to the
uninitiated wartime user.

Along the side walls the bare rock surface protrudes in
many places, while higher up the walls there are old
hangers used to carry the radio cables from the BBC

33

Going up the north side precast concrete plank stairs built
during the war. The bedrock surface protrudes through the
wall adjacent

studios up to aerials on the surface. Near the top of the
stairs the ceiling above the steps was bolstered with
reinforced concrete as it was that much closer to the
surface.

The tunnel had been built starting at both ends, and
Mike, our guide, showed us an irregularity in the
vaulted ceiling halfway up, in the public air-raid shelter

Last few steps of the south side stair leading up to the
original Rocks Railway Waiting Room used as a First Aid
Post in the Second World War

section, where he thought the two parts had met. This
was a very small discrepancy and again speaks highly
of the accuracy of the builders at the time.

Many thanks to our guides and staff from the Clifton
Suspension Bridge Trust, and also to Maggie Shapland,
Mike Taylor and helpers from the Clifton Rocks
Railway Trust. All colour photos Chris Rayner

An enigmatic tunnel atAddington,
London Borough of Croydon

Addington, a former rural village around three miles
south-east of the centre of Croydon, was absorbed into
the County Borough of Croydon in the 1920s, and the
London Borough in 1965. It is known now primarily
for its large council estate. New Addington, where one
branch of Croydon’s modem tram system terminates.
At and near the old village centre lies the ancient parish
church, and Addington Palace, a sometime residence
of Archbishops of Canterbury from 1807 to 1896.
Both New Addington and Addington Village are on
the Chalk outcrop, but between the latter place and
Croydon the ground rises steeply over Thanet Sand,
Woolwich & Reading Beds, and Blackheath Pebble
Beds at the top of Addington Hills. ‘Secret tunnels’
were noted here in 1799.

The report is to the effect that...

The church of Addington, in Surrey, as well as
the village, is most delightfully and romantically
situated in a deep valley, surrounded by hills of
the liveliest verdure and most inviting appearance.
The church ... is one of the oldest in the country,
and, it is believed, in England, considering that it
is not a cathedral, and bears certain evidence of
being built before the time of Edward IV [Reigned
1461 - 1483], On an eminence adjoining there are
the remains of a monastery, between which and a
retired spot at the distance of a mile a subterraneous

passage communicates, which even now is
penetrable for a considerable distance.

In a later volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine we
find however:

As there never was a monastery in this parish, what
are called remains of one are most probably those
of the Manor-house, which Sir Robert Aguillon has
license from Henry III to embattle and fortify on a
spot near the church, still called the Castle Hill, the
subterraneous passage between which and a retired
spot at a mile distance may have been a drain, or
arched vault, belonging to the mansion.

Castle Hill is a name still in use locally, but the
probability is that both ‘castle’ and ‘monastery’ were
in fact no more than a previous manor house. The
tunnel, probably a capacious drain, seems still to have
been accessible at some time in the first half of the 20 th
century, as a drawing of its interior is preserved in the
W.H. Mills Archive at the Museum of Croydon.
SOURCE: GOMME, George Laurence (edr), 1900,
English topography. Gentleman's Magazine Library.
Being a classified collection of the Gentleman’s
Magazine from 1731 -1868. Part XII. Topographical
history of Surrey and Sussex. London: Elliot Stock:
Gentleman’s Magazine Library XII: xiv + 38lpp [The
tunnels are noted on pages 50 and 944]

34

London Borough of Brent Emergency Centre

Keith Ward & Nick Catford

The emergency exit tunnel from the basement of Brent town hall

In 1934, Wembley Council decided to centralise
their offices after Kingsbury Urban District was re¬
amalgamated with Wembley Urban District. They bought
a S^-acre site for a new Town Hall at The Paddocks’,
Forty Lane; this was in Kingsbury, but conveniently near
Wembley Park station. The building was designed by
architect Clifford Strange.

Strange was influenced by Dutch architect Willem
Marinus Dudok who had built the Hilversum Town Hall
in the Netherlands. Dudok was a modern architect but
used brick, a traditional material, rather than reinforced
concrete. Strange followed his example using brick
cladding around a steel frame.

Work on the Town Hall started in October 1937. The
building was to have an asymmetrical plan with an off-
centre main entrance. It is effectively an asymmetric T’
with the bar, the 350-ft main frontage of the building
facing Forty Lane, longer than the stem.

Civil Defence and WWII

During the build-up to WWII, Middlesex County Council
had been doing a lot of forward planning towards civil
defence and part-funded any civil defence works within
its boroughs. The new Town Hall at Wembley was
completed in 1940 and the basement was reinforced to

act as an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) reporting centre
for the Borough. The Centre would receive information
from wardens and messengers and manage the delivery
of the relevant services needed to deal with each incident.

Brent Town Hall

At the same time, a Middlesex County Control was
built at Hatch End with a Standby County Control in
the basement of 45 Forty Lane, Wembley, very close to
the Town Hall. This was a purpose-built Civil Defence
Control Centre comprising a basement control and
single-storey training centre above. (The building was
demolished in the 1980s and the site is now a garage.)

35

Plant

Emergency Centre

In about 1941, the recently built
Middlesex Technical College
in the borough of Hendon
was designated Middlesex
County Control, using its
semi-basement with windows
blocked up. Hatch End then
became first standby and Forty
Lane the second standby. After
WWII the college returned
to education and Hatch End
became County Control again
with Forty Lane as standby on
a care and maintenance basis
until reactivation in the 1950s.

Cold War Reactivation

After WWII, the basement of the Town Hall remained
unused until 1952 when Middlesex County Council,
who remained enthusiastic about civil defence, planned
a series of new control centres at most borough council
headquarters. These could be either underground,
semi-sunken or surface controls and would be built to a
standard layout.

However curbs on spending by the Home Office stopped
this programme after just a few were built. The Tottenham
Borough Control, which was built as part of this scheme,
survived at the rear of the Town Hall until the site was
redeveloped in 2004. (See www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/t/
tottenham_control/index.html)

At Wembley, the new Borough Control would have been
alongside the WWII County Control at Hatch End. With
the cancellation of the new-build scheme, the WWII
County facility was brought back into use. The WWII

standby site at Forty Lane was by now
flooded and unusable although the upstairs
training centre remained in use until 1968.
So instead, Wembley Town Hall was
designated Reserve County Control.

In 1961 a reorganisation of Civil Defence
areas saw Wembley designated as an
Area Control with Willesden and Ealing
as subordinate Controls, and Wembley
reporting to County Control at Hatch
End. By this time a County Standby site
was not deemed necessary. Hatch End
reported to the Home Office London
North Group Regional War Room at
Partingdale Lane, Mill Hill.

In 1964 the London Regional War
Rooms were abolished as was London
Civil Defence Region 5. From this date
responsibility for the London Borough
Controls was split between the RSGs/
SRCs (Regional Seats of Govemment/Sub
Regional Controls) at Cambridge (London
North and East), Fort Bridgewoods (London South East),
Guildford (London South West), and Warren Row - later
moving to Basingstoke (London North West). Wembley
came under the jurisdiction of the Region 6 at Warren Row.

One access to the Emergency Centre spine corridor is down
a ramp at the rear of the building. Blast doors were never
fitted with just an ordinary door offering little protection

In 1965 Middlesex County was abolished and the
Wembley and Willesden Urban District Councils were
combined within the new Greater London Council
(GLC) area becoming the London Borough of Brent.
At this time Brent’s Control was located at Willesden
Town Hall although that didn’t have a basement; there
is no explanation for this strange decision in council
minutes. Being both modem and large, Wembley Town
Hall became the new Brent Town Hall and the Victorian
Willesden Town Hall was eventually demolished.

Civil Defence Stand Down

With the stand down of Civil Defence in 1968, all Controls
were put into care and maintenance, but in the 1971 Civil
Defence Review, Wembley Town Hall was once again

36

designated as Borough Control. London Civil Defence
Region 5 was also reinstated so Wembley then came under
Region 5 under the jurisdiction of Kelvedon Hatch which
became Sub-Regional Headquarters 51 in 1973.

In 1977 the GLC created four Regional Group Controls
with groups of Boroughs reporting to them - they used the
old war room sites except for the South East Group Control
that used the old Lambeth Borough Control at Peartree
House. Wembley now reported directly to London NW
Group Control at Partingdale Lane, Mill Hill.

The town hall lifts (seen left and right) go down to the basement.

The emergency centre is behind the photographer. The plant
rooms for the Town Hall are through the wooden doors

In 1981 some upgrades of the London Borough Controls
were required by the Home Office; however both the GLC
and Brent Council were politically well to the left and they
did everything possible to disrupt Home Office plans.
Brent Emergency Centre is born
In 1983 the GLC was required by the Home Office to set
up a Group Emergency Centre for each of its five groups
of boroughs. District Councils and London Boroughs had
to provide one centre each. An emergency centre was to
be a ‘reasonably protected premises for emergency use
with adequate communications’ from which to ‘control
and co-ordinate action’ in the event of hostile attack or
a threat of hostile attack.

The centres were not expected to be proof against direct
nuclear attack but should be capable of continuing
operations ‘despite the effects of more distant attack’. The
emergency centre was to be capable of accommodating
and supporting the staff necessary to provide the control
and co-ordination.

Each Centre should be capable of withstanding a static
overpressure of 1.5 psi, provide a protective factor of 100
and be able to operate independently of mains services
for 14 days. Brent’s designation was 51E2. Suitable
provision was to be made for domestic accommodation
and equipment; particular guidance was given on
ventilation and air filtration. Apart from the installation
of an upgraded ECN (Emergency Communications
Network) in 1986 little else was done to upgrade the
Wembley Town Hall basement.

When the GLC was abolished in 1986 the London Fire

All the rooms in the Emergency Centre are now stripped
of all fixtures and fittings although ventilation trunking
can still be seen in all the rooms

and Civil Defence Authority (LFCDA) took over Civil
Defence from 1 April. Being a non-political organisation,
upgrades to Emergency Centres began about 1990 but
Brent doesn’t seem to have received an upgrade by the
time the LFCDA finished with Civil Defence in 1991.
On 24 September 1990 Brent Town Hall was Grade II
listed by English Heritage.

Final Days

Due to neglect from the GLC days, the whole of the West
London communications network was virtually non¬
existent with communications being patched in wherever
they could. The old GLC Group Control for North West
London in Beatrice Road, Southall, was inoperable and
Brent was patched into Wanstead (North East London
Group Control) as an interim measure. The LFCDA
did start to upgrade the Emergency Communications
Network but the end of the Cold War put an stop to this.
During the 1980s, Emergency Planning generally used
upstairs rooms in the Town Hall, but the basement was
still used in any exercises. By 1991 the basement was
officially out of use although the ECN equipment in the
basement was last serviced by BT in 1999.

Standby generator

In 2009 Brent Council wanted to delist the Town Hall to
facilitate redevelopment of the site. On 5 February 2013,
the council sold the building, and services including

37

emergency planning were relocated to the new Brent
Civic Centre which opened in August of that year. The
French Education Property Trust purchased the site on
1 February 2012 for transformation into an international
French school called Lycee International de Londres
Winston Churchill.

Visit to the Town Hall basement
Once the Town Hall had been handed over to the contractor
for development we were able to arrange a visit to the
basement. This took place on 27 February 2014 - a week
before work on the redevelopment of the site started.
From the ground floor of the Town Hall we descended
stairs down to the basement where we entered the main
spine corridor. This corridor could be also accessed by two
lifts and from an external ramp at the rear of the building.
From the spine corridor the Emergency Centre occupied
a series of rooms on the east side while those on the west
side were occupied by the Town Hall plant rooms.

It was immediately apparent that the basement had
never been upgraded which, if Wembley had complied
with Home Office requirements in 1983, would have
included installation of blast doors, pressure valves,
decontamination suite etc. and the complete upgrading
of the air-conditioning system.

The BT equipment room

Wall-mounted Line Terminating Unit in the BT equipment room

All the rooms in the Emergency Centre were accessed
through ordinary wooden doors. The rooms had been
stripped of nearly all fixtures and fittings and there was no

indication what any of them had been used for. There was
metal ventilation trunking either suspended from the ceiling
or fixed to the wall running through each of the rooms.

Phoney War

The BT equipment room still had a wall-mounted Line
Terminating Unit (LTU) for the Emergency Communications
Network although the TSX50 ECN exchange it would have
connected to together with terminal equipment and other
apparatus had gone. The TSX50 had a capacity for up to
80 extensions, 24 exchange lines, and eight private circuits
and had its own control console.

The LTU is where all the incoming cables were terminated
on what are called Krone strips. Onward wiring went to
individual bits of equipment inside the Emergency Centre
or elsewhere at the Town Hall as cables were fed into
a smaller distribution box on the wall above. A printed
sheet inside the cabinet was dated 09.02.1999 which is
probably the last time a BT engineer was on site.

The gents ’ toilet comprises one WC cubicle and a sink;
windows are seen on the left

The ladies’ and gents’ toilets were located at the north
end of the Emergency Centre, accessed from the spine
corridor. They each comprised a single WC cubicle, with
two windows onto the rear access ramp, and a washbasin.
This seems totally inadequate for the number of people
who would have occupied the Emergency Centre.
Unusual Emergency Exit

The west side of the spine corridor consisted of a series
of plant rooms for the whole building. These included
air-conditioning plant, boilers, a sub-station and a standby
generator for use in the event of a failure in the mains
supply. On the west side of the plant room there was a
narrow room that appears to have contained filters at
some time, probably during WWII.

At the far end of this room there was a long concrete-
lined tunnel that ran for about 100 feet turning to the
east below the south face of the building. It terminated
at a ladder which is about ten feet in height. At the top
of the ladder, the tunnel continued for some distance,
its roof comprising a line of removable concrete panels
located between the south face of the building and the

38

The filter room with the emergency escape tunnel on the far side

Town Hall front car park on Forty Lane. Daylight could
be seen along the length of the tunnel and it seems clear
that these panels were designed to be removed to allow
people to escape from the building along the tunnel.
Having visited the site, it appears to have been too small
for both Borough Control and County Standby, however
it is likely County would have used part of the upstairs
building as well. After our visit, work on refurbishment
of the building started almost immediately and the new
school opened in September 2015.

A ladder at the end of the emergency escape tunnel leads to
a line of removable concrete panels in front of the town hall

SOURCES

Struggle for Survival - Governing Britain after the
Bomb (Steve Fox, 2004)

A Brief Architectural History of Wembley (later Brent)
Town Hall (M.C. Barres-Baker, Brent Archives)
Various files at the National Archives
London Borough of Brent Civil Defence Records.
Photos Nick Catford

f A

GIBRALTAR STUDY TOUR, 16-20 OCTOBER 2017

There are 6 places still available on the 16-20 October trip. Gibraltar is an amazing destination, and
this is a rare chance to visit such a range of iconic underground sites. It has taken 8 months to organise
so if you miss this one you may have to wait a long time for another opportunity! We shall be seeing:

The Northern Defences - an extensive network of Cl8 tunnels and defensive lines.

The Great Siege Tunnels - the original gun galleries cut into the face of The Rock.

Willis’s Magazine - the largest C19 magazine of its type.

Parson’s Lodge Battery - a Europa Nostra ‘historic fortress’ - active for 2 centuries.

The ‘100 Ton’ Gun - Armstrong’s biggest muzzle loading gun: one of only 2 surviving.

Devil’s Gap Battery - two emplaced 6” guns, extensive magazines & shelter.

Lord Airey’s & O’Hara’s Batteries - two 9.2” guns, magazines, shelters & engine room.

Admiralty Tunnel & Eisenhower’s HQ / NATO COMCEN - the nerve centre of The Rock.

The Underground Water Reservoirs (with a tunnel right through The Rock).

Hay’s Level - an extensive complex of WWII and earlier military tunnels.

Great North Road - the famous N-S military lorry tunnel & key locations along its route.

The Stay-Behind Cave - the covert observation hide of the legendary ‘Operation Tracer’.

Fire Control South - the Fortress Command post for all the big guns of the south.

Calpe WWII Underground Hospital - prior C19 gun casemate & WWII air-raid shelter.

Princess Ann’s Battery (three extant 5.25” guns) - plus adjacent batteries & shelters.

Calpe Hole Underground Generating Station - massive engine plant still in place.

Lower St.Michael’s Cave - extraordinary cave formations & underground lake.

The tour cost is likely to be around £100. Book your own flights & accommodation. Gibraltar is a
Sterling currency area (of course!) with costs broadly comparable to UK.

I’m happy to answer any questions, email me at: timothy.wellburn @ gmail.com

V_____ J

39

Mail Rail - Sub Brit plays its par

Linda Dixon

Junction at the bottom of the maintenance incline where the lines lead to the eastbound (left)
and westbound platforms at Mount Pleasant

As Old as the Hills

Plans to carry mail underground London are as old
as the hills - or at least as Sir Rowland Hill, the great
postal reformer, who commissioned a feasibility study
into a pneumatic tube in 1855-56. Although deemed
feasible, the plans were not progressed for cost reasons.
A pneumatic scheme was constructed however, opening
in 1863 between Euston Station and Eversholt Street
after a trial scheme in Battersea. Further extensions were
constructed but it was concluded that the system offered
insufficient benefit and was closed in 1874.

Almost 40 years later, a scheme was developed to build
a larger railway using electric motive power between
Paddington and Whitechapel. With eight stations, the
tunnels were largely constructed using Greathead shields
by Mowlem. The work was suspended during World War
I and the network finally opened in 1927. The track gauge
is a mere two feet wide and the line was christened The
Post Office Railway’.

Most of the network is a double track tunnel but these
split before stations into two smaller bore tunnels. The
stations themselves are in much larger 25 feet diameter
tunnels. The lines ascend towards stations to aid braking
and descend on leaving stations. This also means that the
stations, all beneath sorting offices or mainline stations,
are shallower with less distance for staff and mail to be
transported.

Last Post

The network saw many years of use, with new trains
in 1930 and a new Western District Station opened in
1965. My first memory of its existence was seeing Blue

40

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Peter’s John Noakes ride amongst the mail bags some
time in the 1960s. In 1987, in celebration of the line’s
70th anniversary, it was renamed ‘Mail Rail’ and new
rolling stock commissioned.

Sadly all good things must come to an end and in 2003
the Post Office announced the closure of Mail Rail.
After lying disused for many years, the Postal Museum
(as it is now) saw the potential for the site and made
a planning application in 2013 to Islington Council to
reopen part of the line as a tourist attraction. Sub Brit
made several comments on the application, largely
to ensure that there was the minimum destruction of
features and that the attraction catered for engineering
and subterranean enthusiasts as well as schoolchildren
and stamp collectors.

The new Mail Rail

Disproving the old adage that philately will get you
nowhere, the application was approved and work
commenced with conversion, fund raising and publicity.
Part of the fundraising was to individuals to ‘sponsor a
sleeper’ and Martin and I did our bit and made a donation.
More significantly, Subterranea Britannica also agreed to
support the project, opening up as it does a fascinating
underground space to the public.

The new passenger trains at their terminus in the old
maintenance depot. The green one is just coming up
the incline from the main tracks

As individual sponsors of a sleeper, we were
invited to ‘Walk the Rails’. This event was
before the main public opening and included
a trip on a new train and a chance to actually
walk through the tunnels on the new route.
In recognition of Sub Brit’s support for the
project, there will be similar opportunities for
all Sub Brit members over the coming years.
We expect these to be popular so will probably
draw places by ballot and make a small charge.
On the evening of our visit, about 20 of us
congregated in the old maintenance depot
below Mount Pleasant. There is a smallish but
well curated exhibition about Mail Rail and
its history with some nice old artefacts. The
exhibition space has been sensitively built over the old
working area so that the floors, rails and working pits can
be seen through grills and spaces in the floor.
Passenger trains

The new trains are (by necessity, due to the size of the
tunnels) tiny and could apparently hold 32 passengers -
although this would be a very tight squeeze! There were
a dozen or so in our group and we fitted snugly. The
Perspex covers were lowered and we were off! Down a
steepish incline to the main tracks and a 180° curve to
line up with one of the original Mount Pleasant loading/
unloading platforms where we paused. There is a mini
slide-show here, before another tight turning loop. Here
we passed over some old tracks - still used to store old
trains; these are nicely lit for viewing. Back through the
second platform (another slide show) and the final bend
before we were back at the ‘terminus’. Although it took
20 minutes, it seemed over too quickly!

The author and one of the last mail trains, stabled at
the Mount Pleasant platform

We had a chance to look round the exhibition area before
the long-awaited walk through the tunnels. The exhibition
includes one of the ‘original’ pneumatic carriages -
rediscovered in 1937! There were some hands-on exhibits
- perhaps a bit too tame for most of us - but there was a
popular mock-up of a Travelling Post Office, complete
with shaking floor and pigeon holes to allow you to try
sorting letters and parcels on the move.

4 4”V

41

Walking the tunnels

Then the real highlight of our experience - a chance to
walk through the tunnels. It should be remembered that
we only get to see the tunnels below Mount Pleasant
which contain the two platforms which would have been
used to load and unload mail sacks and the connecting
tunnels to the maintenance depot. The main length of the
tunnels is still owned (and maintained) by Royal Mail
and is blocked off to visitors.

We followed the route taken on the train ride. Kitted up in
hi-viz vests and shiny new red hard hats, we went down
the incline and as we stepped over the rail sleepers we
could see the donation plaques; number 56 was the first
one we paused at, belonging to one of the people in our
group - so a nice stop for photos (but actually for the
rest of us to have a good look round!). Photography was
allowed throughout which was good.

We continued in this fashion, ambling along and stopping
occasionally and then got to the first of the platforms.
Here there was one of the old trains stabled and on the
platform, still in situ, was the chute which received the
mail bags and fed them onto the conveyor belt. Along the
edge of the platform were three rubber-edged sections
which is where each train would have stopped and the
flaps lowered to allow loading/unloading of the trolleys
(‘Yorkies’) carrying the mailbags.
w | # ■ ■

Atahtw at {UK) umited

Zm “ hTh Smcfcf Vv&Aw Rjn*

Smoke ventilation panel, showing the route taken by the
passenger train. The display shows which trains are in
section and controls the smoke extract fans and direction

Finding our plaque

Our own plaque was number 150, duly located and
admired. There are 313 plaques so far, with plenty
of room to take further donations to help support the
museum. Subterranea Britannica is also listed on the
sponsorship board for all to see and we have agreement
to recognise Chris Rayner’s contribution to Sub Brit and
our underground heritage by a dedicated plaque.

Our walk concluded as we went through the second
platform, with similar original artefacts, and then back
up the incline. A splendid evening and one which some
of you will have a chance to see on one of the special Sub

Royal Bank o!scotianu

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of loo I

The Royal Philatelic Society London

Share Academy: CLASH

Sir John Cass’s Foundation

Stuart Rossiter Trust

Subterranea Britannica

The Trollope Society

as;'""*

sar*

Dr SteVR RnrlU

The Sponsorship Panel at the entrance to the Mail Rail
Museum, showing Sub Brit as a major donor to the project

Linda and Martin Dixon with their own sponsorship plaque

Brit tours that will be arranged. Public train rides can be
booked through www.postalmuseum.org

A feature on the Post Office Railway was published in
Subterranea 2, July 2003.

Photos by Martin & Linda Dixon

An old maintenance train, constructed to carry engineers,
stabled at the platform

42

Portland Site Visits 14 June 2017

Thanks to member John Marquis, 24 Sub Brit members enjoyed a splendid day out visiting two very different sites
on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. The visits are described below by two of our most knowledgeable members.

Portland Stone Firms Ltd
Roger J Morgan

The Sub Brit party poses for the camera in front of the entrance to the underground workings at Perryfield Quarry
It was a blazingly hot day when we assembled at 0930
at Fancy’s Family Farm [50°33’32.02” N 2°25’53.88”

W] on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The plan was to split
into two groups - one to go first to the Portland ROTOR
bunker in the Verne ditch, and the other to Portland
Stone Firms Ltd to see an underground and surface stone
quarry and their processing factory. The groups would
then switch for the afternoon -1 was in the first party of
twelve for the quarries.

A convoy of cars followed Geoff Smith of Portland Stone
(one of two firms extracting stone from Portland) to
Perryfield Quarry two miles south, opposite the Portland
Museum at Weston. This is a conventional opencast
quarry which they had recently decided to develop by
tunnelling from the easternmost vertical face under the
adjoining fields. Technically this is not a ‘mine’ but an
underground quarry.

Portland Building Stone

The Portland freestone series is about 10m below ground
level and consists of (working upwards) Basebed 2-3m;

Curf (or Flinty) lm; Whitbed 2-3m and Roach 2-3m.

Looking west across the Perryfield quarry floor.

The left-hand portal is the working adit, the right-hand
a blind portal to be used in the future as an exit

Above this is a Purbeck stone Cap 3-4m which forms the
roof of the quarry. All the beds dip to the south.
Fortunately, the degree of cementation in Portland Stone
is sufficient to allow it to resist the detrimental effects of
the weather, but it is not so well cemented that it can’t

43

be readily worked (cut and carved) by masons. This is
one of the reasons why Portland Stone is so favoured as
a monumental and architectural stone. Only the Basebed,
Whitbed and Roach bed are used for building, the
principal difference being in the proportion of fossilised
shell in the stone.

General view of pillar and stall working

Geoff first took us into the site hut to explain the plan
- the method of working is standard ‘pillar and stall’, a
rectangular chessboard of 7m-wide alleys and 4 x 4m
square pillars supporting the roof. At the moment there
is only one entrance to the underground quarry, with the
portal of another to the right ready to be opened when
the workings are more extensive and there is need for an
in-out system for air and transport.

He described how they have to stabilise the ceiling with
a regular grid of 2.5m rockbolts, for which they have
automatic machines which can drill, place and tighten the
bolts in two minutes. To every tenth bolt or so they attach
a tell-tale with a dial which will indicate if the roof has
moved, and every so often they have to hang weights on
the bolts to confirm the ceiling is still sound.

All the Portland stone beds are criss-crossed by cracks
or faults in a rectangular array N-S and E-W (caused
when the beds were pushed upwards) and the skill of the
quarrymen is to position the cracks in the pillars, rather
than the open roof.

Going underground

We then entered the portal and went south to see a
cutting machine. This is a caterpillar-tracked chainsaw,
but scaled up by about five, and costing £0.3 million. It
is controlled by one man and a computer, and cuts the
stone just as a chainsaw would cut timber, but slowly and
silently at 8-11 cm/minute. The blade could be thrust
forward, angled left-right, and traversed sideways about
3m, and the whole system rotated from horizontal to
vertical cutting.

The technique is to cut slots 2.2m deep up both sides and
across the top and bottom of the face, leaving the block
held in place only by the (inaccessible) back face. Then
aluminium flattened balloons (‘pad’) are inserted into
the slots and expanded with high-pressure water, which
gently breaks out the block.

Cutting machine is seen in the cross alley
We passed another cutting machine (the whole site was
very busy with lots of machines working) and then
progressed five or six pillars eastwards into the unlit
alley to a southward working face in a stall. A huge
four-wheeled machine was breaking up the left-hand
half of the face, the good stone to the right having been
extracted. It was basically a JCB, but again scaled up by
about five, with interchangeable front ends for breaking
out or scooping up rubble.

Automated cutting machine sawing a horizontal slot in the
face - the bottom slot has already been cut. The operator’s
position is on the left with the computer screen

The cutting machine head carrying the chain saw can
be traversed up/down; left/right and turned over

This was a very dramatic sight and we had to stand aside
as the vehicle left the quarry to change heads and came
back with the bucket on to scoop up a huge load. We
were all gratified to be wearing hi-vis jackets to ensure
we were visible to the workers.

44

Tractor breaking out rubbish stone from face with forks

It was great to see a quarry in action - so often our visits
are in darkness to abandoned or derelict underground
spaces. Although the layout would be familiar to
earlier quarrymen, the technology in use was especially
impressive. As we left, our attention was drawn to a
typical block of 4.2 cubic metres, worth about £2,500.
Back into the sunshine

We then returned to the cars and went in convoy again
to Broadcroft quarry, one mile north at Grove. This is a
conventional opencast quarry and was blindingly bright
white in the brilliant sunshine. We lined up on the western
rim and looked down into it at a working face opposite.
In contrast to what we had just seen, the stone here is
won with explosives in drilled holes.

Broadcroft Opencast Quarry looking southeast. A drilling
machine placing holes for blasting - the front loader
appears to be carrying a steel box, perhaps containing the
black powder charges. A mobile saw in the background with
cut blocks drying. Harder overburden over desirable stone
can be seen in quarry face

First the Cap (which is as hard as granite) is broken up
with high-explosive dynamite, and then a long line of
holes is drilled below the Basebed and tamped with black
powder, which when fired explodes with a much slower
and less powerful effect, just lifting the stone slightly and
‘popping’ it out. The stone thus popped is then moved to
a laying-out area of the quarry bottom and trimmed by
caterpillar-mounted chainsaws.

The explosives were housed in a mobile magazine which
provided a safe forward store. The advantage of open¬

cast quarrying is that a greater volume of freestone can
be extracted four times faster, but the disadvantage is
dealing with all the overburden waste and some wastage
of the freestone due to the explosions. Underground
quarrying gives only with what is required, and it comes
out in semi-rectangular blocks; it is, of course, more
environmentally friendly and allows exploitation beneath
already developed surface areas; but is slower.

Stones into Building Blocks

The convoy then moved to the processing plant, half
a mile west at Easton. This is a long, narrow site with
four primary processing sheds at the north end and three
finishing sheds, plus administration buildings, at the south
end. The blocks of stone were progressively reduced to
yield the pre-ordered dimensions - there is no speculative
cutting of standard blocks.

Every block is a one-off pre-specified by the client and is
accompanied throughout processing by a coloured ticket
specifying its parameters; the skill of the masons is in
placing the cuts to minimise wastage (much like cutting
diamonds in Hatton Garden!). All the cutting and sawing
machines utilised continuous sprays of water, but the
resulting slurry is collected and the water is separated
out and reused; it is a very ‘green’ operation.

Front view of an initial cut Benetti horizontal chainsaw
reducing blocks to manageable size; water is cascading off
the cutter and stone dust jetting from the blade

Initial cuts on the rough blocks are made vertically
downward on three ‘Fast 736’ Benetti Italian primary
cutters operating rather like a water-lubricated horizontal

45

band-saw but using diamond-encrusted wires from China,
computer controlled and cutting at about 68mm/minute,
though they could do double that.

In passing to the next shed we looked at a large lump of
fossilised tree trunk (the primeval sea must have been
quite shallow with driftwood). The second shed had
four circular diamond-tipped saws, the third a totally
automated production line to produce ashlar flats planed
on all six sides; there is also a machine with automatically
produced eight-stone balusters (for bottle balustrades)
a day.

Shaping and Polishing

Moving to the other end of the site we entered the
finishing plant, where the rectangular blocks are shaped
if required. There was a tilt-turn table and three planers
with a tungsten-tipped library of interchangeable tools
which were scraped from one end to the other of the
block to produce the required profile, an ‘Omag’ five-axis
computer-controlled miller using a small circular saw and
finally three more large circular saws.

The third shed with the Gisbert totally automated
ashlar flats production line in the background
and finished product in foreground

The output conveyor of the Gisbert production line
We then entered the domain of the masons: a much
smaller workshop with smaller routers and cutters
where hand-sculpted blocks are produced. There are
even apprentice’s work-pieces - a cube with A, B, C
etc on each face, and a pair of stone dice. Next was the
drawing office, where layout drawings are prepared of
every facade, showing each individual numbered block,

from which the coloured job-tickets and attached zinc
or plastic templates are prepared which accompany each
block throughout its processing.

Lastly we passed to the customer-facing side of the
operation where there were uniform square samples of
every type of stone produced for selection, layout plans,
and promotional photographs of completed jobs and
computer visualisations of those in the pipeline.

It was fascinating to see the complete process from native
rock to finished article and we were all impressed by the
skill of the workers and the commitment of the firm to
apprenticeships.

The convoy then returned to Fancy’s Family Farm, arriving
at about noon, ready to go down the ROTOR bunker in
the afternoon. A good proportion of the party partook of
the burgers, sausage sandwiches and drinks from the Farm
canteen whilst enjoying the sunshine on their patio and
indulging in SubBrit gossip, watched over by a bam owl!

Portland ROTOR Underground Bunker
Bob Clary

After an excellent morning touring the new underground
quarry at Portland Stone Firms courtesy of Geoff Smith
we made our way back to Fancy’s Farm for the descent
into the Portland ROTOR bunker. Along with the
adjoining citadel and high-angle battery, the whole site
is a scheduled ancient monument as it is a particularly
intact example of its type.

A detailed technical description of the site and its bunker
is available on the Sub Brit website so here I’ve tried
to describe our tour and the bunker as it appears today.
I had been there on two previous trips some years ago
before the advent of modern powerful LED torches and
now much-improved digital cameras so I was keen to go
back and see if I could take some better photos.
ROTOR Programme

The ROTOR radar programme was established in the
early 1950s to detect and counter incoming Soviet
nuclear bombers. The largest-ever MoD project at the
time, the technology became redundant after only a
few years. Partly this was due to improvements in radar
technology, coupled with the decision to co-locate
detection and interception functions. The biggest reason
for the programme’s end however was development of
intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles which even if
detected couldn’t be countered.

Portland ROTOR is a single-level R1 bunker and is
unique in that it is actually a surface building despite the
fact you have to descend a 20-metre vertical shaft and
walk through a tunnel to get to it. This is because it was
constructed in the bottom of the Verne Citadel’s moat
but is accessed from adjacent land outside the citadel so
you get the impression that you’re going underground
whereas once out of the tunnel you are actually on the
bed of the earlier moat.

46

It was intended that the Portland CEW station would be
one of the first recipients of the advanced Type 80 radar,
and the underground control bunker was modified during
construction to incorporate a Kelvin-Hughes projector
below the plotting room floor with a photographic display
unit (PDU) in place of the manual plotting table. An
American Type AN/FPS3 unit was installed, supposedly
as an interim measure, until the Type 80 was available.
The latter, in fact, was never installed and the Kelvin-
Hughes well remained unoccupied.

The flat-roofed guard house at Portland was one of the
few whose design was modified to incorporate
local building materials

The guardhouse is also unique as it is not of the
standard ROTOR design. It is curved and finished in
Portland Stone so as to blend in with its surroundings.
It has a veranda but, because it has a flat roof, it lacks
the circular windows at the ends of an apex roof
which are a familiar and distinctive feature of standard
ROTOR guardhouses.

Ladder Descent

Portland was also the only ROTOR bunker to be fitted
with a lift but sadly this has been removed together with
the staircase and replaced with a two-stage vertical ladder.
Thus our tour began by descending the ladder one by one.
I teamed up with Martin, our esteemed chairman, and
recent member Jago Wickers. We gathered at the bottom
of the shaft which was dry other than a large puddle just
by the ladder which I managed to step into.

The entrance tunnel

Looking down the entrance tunnel, we could see it is
made of circular steel rings bolted together similar to a
tube train tunnel. It is about fifty metres long and slopes
gently down to the bunker. Turning right at the end of the
tunnel, we entered familiar ROTOR bunker territory; we
were now inside the R1 concrete box built in the moat.
A short corridor leads to firstly the transformer chamber
on the left and then to the main blast doors, which are
open. Interestingly, presumably because it’s in the bottom
of the moat, there is no cable shaft in the entrance corridor
which is a standard feature of underground ROTOR
bunkers. Here all the cables enter by either the main or
emergency access shafts.

Looking along the main spine corridor with rooms entered
on both sides. The underfloor cable runs have been filled
with hardcore to form a solid floor

We walked slowly down to the far end of the bunker to
get a feel for it and literally soak up the atmosphere. We
were surprised how much plant remains. All the radar
kit has gone but most of the electrical and ventilation
plant is still there making this a very interesting bunker.
Also much of the underfloor radar infrastructure wiring
survives which is useful to see as at the Warding bunker
- which some of us are trying to preserve - it has mostly
been destroyed.

There is much evidence of fire damage and everything is
blackened and sooty. There is no lighting of course; the
only illumination was our torches. I now remembered
that it was the blackened walls that made photography
so difficult and still does.

Emergency Exit

At the end of the corridor we left the operational part
of the bunker and passed through the site of some
blast doors into the combined emergency escape and
air intake/extract area. Access to the escape is via a
tunnel at right angles to the bunker some five metres
up a shaft; a modern aluminium ladder is in position
tempting one to climb up.

47

The high level emergency exit tunnel. The emergency exit
is behind the photographer. Note the ladder at the far
end which leads down to the bunker. The stairs here were

removed by contractors before the bunker was sold

I climbed the ladder and entered the escape tunnel. It is
about five metres long and full of cables running along
its walls. This led to another shaft about twenty metres
high, with no ladder, which would have led to the surface.
This shaft is deeper than the entrance shaft because the
land outside rises to the emergency escape.

We retraced our steps to the main part of the bunker past
various plant rooms. The fans and switchgear in the outer
area are still extant and the two electrical rooms on the
left were complete, as is the main air-conditioning plant
room on the right. It even had complete electrical circuit
diagrams on the inside doors of the switch cabinets which
were all labelled up with their function.

Further along on the left are the toilets and canteens.
Three separate toilets, one each for men, women and
officers, and male and female canteens separated by a
small kitchen. Other than smoke damage these are all in
surprisingly good condition. For example, all the sinks,
urinals and basins are still in place and undamaged.

The small kitchen sandwiched between the RAF and WRAF
rest rooms. There is a serving hatch into each of the rooms

Martin Dixon waiting for his tea in the WRAF rest room -
you ’ll have a long wait Martin!

Floorless Condition

The plant rooms and domestic facilities have solid floors
so can be entered without fear of falling through a hole
but the technical rooms and the corridor had underfloor
voids for cable and ventilation trunking. Teak flooring
was originally fitted but this has long since been removed.

The air conditioning plant room - one of the few rooms
that always had a solid floor. It was entered by steps
down from the spine corridor

Air conditioning switch cabinet with circuit diagram on door

While the corridor void has been filled with hardcore to form
a floor, the floors in the rooms have been left open and steel
scaffold barriers have been fitted across their doors to deter
access. The hardcore used in the corridor has been eroded
in places creating holes, so you have to watch your footing.

48

Two 3.5 kVA motor alternators (rotary converters)
are seen in the radar machine room. This is now
the only ROTOR site where these survive

An interesting feature of all the rooms is the triangular
ventilation ducting fitted neatly between the walls and the
ceiling and in some places in vertical runs in the corners.
I’ve not noticed it elsewhere - it looks very 1950s. Past
the main plant room is the GPO room, this is empty with
no floor so can’t be accessed.

The plotting room is next; this contains the pit for the
Kelvin Hughes display which was never fitted. A ladder
descends into the pit which is flooded but there is no floor
so sadly the room can’t easily be entered. It’s a shame the
pit can’t be pumped out. The balcony is complete though
I wouldn’t have trusted it to take my weight even if I had
been able to get to the stairs!

The Track Telling room with plotting room in the corner

Radar Equipment Cabling

Past the plotting room on the right is a large open space
which reaches to the end of the corridor; this used to be
three rooms. The track telling room was on the right of
the space which was L-shaped going behind the plotting
room; next were the workshop and the radar office.

All the partitions have been removed as have the floors so
if you want to enter it you need to walk on the underfloor
ventilation ducting. Of interest here are the underfloor
cable ducts still fitted with their sockets for connecting to
radar equipment above.

The two level Combined Filter and Plotting Room; the remains
of the steps to the balcony are see at the back of the room.
Below the floor is the flooded pitfor the Kelvin Hughes display

Much of the cabling is also in situ; it had just been cut
probably by the decommissioning team to prove the
circuits were dead. Even though there were no partitions
the site of the workshop was obvious as it had no underfloor
cable ducts or ventilation.

Opposite the track telling room on the other side of the
corridor is an alcove which contains the hot water tank and
a fixed ladder to the storage area over the various toilets
and canteens. Past the alcove are the final two rooms, the
technical officer’s room and the intercept recorder. Both
of these are empty with no floor but you can see all there
is to see from the corridor.

That completed our tour so we made our way back
up the tunnel and braced ourselves for the long
climb up the vertical ladder. At the top I paused
to have a look at the lift motor room which still
has its motor. We all emerged into bright sunshine
and were able to walk on the surface across to the
surface building above the emergency exit. There
were also a number of radar plinths, some reused
as shelters for the livestock now on site.

From the edge of the site the massive Victorian
moat of the citadel could be seen with the
distinct outline of the bunker itself within it
(more ‘build and cover’ than ‘cut and cover’).
It seems bizarre that the entrance and exit are
excavated through and protected by sixty feet
or so of solid rock and yet the bunker itself
has (presumably) just a few feet of earth above

the concrete shell. Exploration over, we were ready for
another cup of tea before making our separate ways home.

Many thanks

Thanks to Geoff Smith of Portland Stone Firms Ltd and
Fancy’s Family Farm, without whom both visits would
have been impossible. Thanks also to John Marquis for
arranging the visits and for the usual good company of
other members. It was a really good day out.

Photos: Quarry - Gerald Tompsett. Portland ROTOR -
Bob Clary

49

Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen
(and Malmo)

Martin Dixon

Deserted radar control room deep within the Stevns Artillery Fort.

Equipment, manuals and other paraphernalia give the room a Marie Celeste feel. Photo Magnus Hans sen

After Sub Brit trips in and around Stockholm and
Gothenburg in recent years, Lars Hansson suggested that
there was a lot to see hidden beneath Copenhagen. Lars,

Linda, Tony Radstone and I worked together and the
result was forty members spending a fascinating Study
Weekend here in May 2017.

Copenhagen is Scandinavia’s busiest airport and
members flew in from around the UK and beyond. Nigel
Ostler-Harris flew from Lusaka, having just finished a
family holiday in Zambia and got the ‘furthest travelled’
award. We were also delighted that French member Jean-
Philippe Guichard joined us, flying in from Marseille.

Probably the Best Bunker in the World (1)

Friday was a free day but a number of suggestions were
made for underground sites that are normally open to
the public. One of these was the Carlsberg Museum -
admittedly not substantially underground but one of its
cellars was used in the Cold War as a plotting room for
the Danish equivalent of the Royal Observer Corps.

Although the cellars are not normally included on the

The underground Cold War plotting room beneath the
Carlsberg Brewery

tourist route, an obliging guide opened up a gas-tight door
and allowed photos to be taken of this unexpected bonus.
Talking to locals later, it appears there was a fridge in the
bunker which was magically refilled during exercises (as
volunteers, the staff there apparently had more leeway
than the full-time armed services).

50

The impressive collection of beer bottles at
the Carlsberg brewery

Another site which several of us visited independently
was the crypt beneath Christian’s Church. This Lutheran
Church is unusual in that the walls are composed of
dozens of boxes for the congregation and is thus popularly
known as the Theatre Church. Completed in 1759, the
church also boasts an impressive crypt - composed of 48
separate burial chapels. Still in use, there are hundreds
of burials here - in fact not really burials as the coffins
stand on display for all to see.

Ornate Coffins in the crypt beneath Christian s Church. The
wrought-iron gates are private chapels within the crypt.
Photo Martin Dixon

There is also a dedicated lift from the church above to
facilitate the final descent after the funeral service. This
is of modem construction, unlike the catafalques at West
Norwood or Kensal Green designed by Joseph Bramah.
There can’t be many lifts that only carry a load in a
downward direction...

Copenhagen’s First Defences

The final site on several people’s itinerary was the mins
beneath the Christiansborg Palace. The site has a long
and complex history and is now used as a Royal Palace,
the seat of the Danish Parliament and the head of the
Judiciary. Denmark is unusual if not unique in the world
in having these three functions within a single complex.
During the most recent reconstmction of the Christiansborg
Palace at the beginning of the twentieth century, ruins

The Coffin Lift beneath Christian s Church is an unusual
addition to the crypt which was consecrated in 1759.

The ramp and covered bier can be seen leading out
of the lift doors. Photo Martin Dixon

were found as the foundations were being excavated.
The earliest of these ruins came from Copenhagen’s
first castle, constmcted in the 12th century and known as
Absalon’s castle after the Bishop who built it. The castle
was made up of curtain walls and a number of associated
buildings. After several sieges and a period of occupation,
in 1369 the castle was demolished by forty stonemasons
of the Hanseatic League.

Well beneath curtain walls of Copenhagen s first castle.

Built in the 12th century, it was known as Absalon's Castle
after the Bishop who founded it. Photo Martin Dixon

Later in the fourteenth century, a second castle was built
which had a moat and a large entrance tower; it was
occupied from 1417 by King Eric of Pomerania. Ruins
of this era too were discovered during construction.
Such was the public interest in the discoveries that
between 1908 and 1917 the remains of both Absalon’s
and the second castle were preserved underneath the new
Palace, protected by a reinforced concrete structure. The
extensive remains of the first two stages of Copenhagen’s
defences are thus still accessible to the public, hidden
underground beneath today’s Christiansborg Palace.
Whilst some of us were visiting the palace, we had a small
bonus. Workmen had a manhole open and were checking
a sewer that led out from the Palace. Chatting to the

51

foreman, it turned out that as well as the sewer there was
also an escape tunnel beneath that would have allowed the
Royal Family to escape to the waterside in an emergency.
We could see the brick-paved floor about twelve feet
down but our requests to be allowed to descend ourselves
were met with a polite refusal. Something about sundhed
og sikkerhed (health and safety).

Maintenance gang inspecting the sewers and escape tunnel
beneath the Christiansborg Palace. Photo Martin Dixon

Before starting on the visits of the weekend proper, it’s
probably useful to summarise later periods of defence
construction in the city. The defences remain remarkably
intact and tell the story of the defence of Copenhagen
from the Middle Ages through to the Cold War.
Ramparts and Bastions

In the seventeenth century, under King Christian IV,
Copenhagen was significantly enlarged and fortified
with earthworks and bastions. To the west, ramparts were
built which, along with moats, can still be discerned at
Tivoli and the Botanical Gardens. To the north a fort
( Kastellet ) was built. To the east, land was reclaimed
and more ramparts built - these now form the district of
Christianshavn (Christian’s harbour).

During 1658-59 the city was besieged by the Swedes
who were successfully repelled. In 1801 it was the turn

of the British, who fought a major battle with the Danish
navy in the harbour. It was during this battle that Nelson
famously put his telescope to his blind eye, thereby not
seeing Admiral Parker’s order to cease fire. The British
again attacked in 1807 and caused extensive damage
to the city with the onslaught including rockets which
caused extensive fires.

The third era of fortifications was in the late nineteenth
century, when a rampart and ditch were built to the west
(Vestvolden) with associated bastions and batteries.
Coastal batteries and inland forts complemented
Vestvolden. The whole was built following the principles
of Henri Brialmont (1821-1903), a military architect
sometimes nicknamed the ‘Vauban of Belgium’.

World Wars

Early in the twentieth century more coastal artillery forts
were added, including Dragpr Fort and Kongelundsfortet.
Denmark remained neutral in World War I but in World
War II was invaded by Germany and became first
a Protectorate and later an occupied country. Many
German-built bunkers remain from this period, especially
around the west coast of the country. Most of the country
was liberated in May 1945 by British forces under
Montgomery.

Moving on to the Cold War, Denmark joined NATO in
1949 and the country, and the island of Zealand (on which
Copenhagen is situated) in particular, became known as
the 4 cork in the Baltic’. This as the Soviet fleet would
have to pass very close to Denmark to leave the Baltic
(and similarly of course, the NATO forces entering the
Baltic). As such, Copenhagen became a key target for
Soviet forces in the event of conflict, both for its strategic
position and as a stepping stone to Sweden and Norway.
Our Sub Brit Study Weekend would take us to sites
representing all of these different phases, using a variety
of transport options - on, above and, of course, below
the ground.

Small but Perfectly Formed

By Friday night, we had all arrived at our hotel - the
Cabinn Metro in the modern suburb of
Orestad. The hotel rooms were designed to
make optimum use of space in the same way
as a boat cabin, hence the name. Clean and
tidy, the rooms were very cost-effective for
Denmark but a little on the small side. You
could literally clean your teeth while sitting
on the toilet - and indeed have a shower at
the same time!

Saturday morning dawned and our first
underground experience was the very efficient
Copenhagen Metro system. Planning for the
Metro started in 1992 and construction started
in 1996. It opened in stages between 2002 and
2007 and has two lines - Ml and M2. The two
lines share a common track from Vanlpse but

Copenhagen's defences over the years, including I he massive Veslvolden
to the wesl and Ihe southern artillery forts and batteries

52

Narrebros Runddel,
Nuuks Plads

Orientkaj

o* o

Vanlose Flintholm

O Transfer station
0 Strain
Q Regional train
O Airport

(J) M2

Lufthavnen

Copenhagen’s Metro system showing lines Ml and M2 (in use),
the Citvringen line M3 (under construction) and M4 (planned)

Central Station - a current weakness. Totalling
15.5 km, the CityRingen will have seventeen
new stations - all underground. A small
viewing platform at Kongens Nytorv allows
visitors to see the construction site and view
display panels with information about the
construction. Opening is scheduled for 2020.
Cold War Playground
We left the Metro at Christianshavn and had
an excursion to view the city’s seventeenth-
century ramparts. Unexpectedly, the first
structure we noted was one of a number of
Cold War civilian shelters, all accessed by a
slit passage and with a square surface structure
which was used for ventilation and emergency
exit purposes.

split after Christianshavn, one branch (Ml) going to the
terminus and depot of Vestamager and the other (M2)
terminating at the airport.

In total the system covers 20.4 kilometres and has 22
stations - nine of which (in the centre of the city) are
underground. These were built by excavating station
boxes and building top down. The surface of the
underground stations has glass pyramids which provide
a degree of natural light within.

The trains are driverless and operate 24 hours a day,
with a frequency of up to every two minutes, reducing
to 20 minutes off-peak. The trains are three cars long
but the platforms are long enough to accommodate four
cars if extra capacity is needed. The island platforms
are equipped with platform-edge doors (even at surface
stations) as a security measure. The system carries about
57 million passengers a year.

Metro Maintenance and Control
We boarded at Orestad and had time for a quick excursion
to the end of the line at Vestamager to view the depot
from the platform. Maintenance and Control is centred
on a three-acre site accessed beyond the terminus by a
descending and curving track. All maintenance is carried
out here and the site has a total of five kilometres of
track for storage and testing. Diesel locomotives are also
housed here for maintenance or breakdown recovery.
We noted that, unusually, ‘next train’ arrival times are
indicated to the nearest Vi minute. One of the simplest but
most inventive features of the trains is a small stick-on
plastic instrument panel in all the front cars. This allows
youngsters (and Sub Brit members!) to pretend to drive
the train, make announcements and open and close doors
etc. Perhaps something that other operators (and Southern
Rail?) might usefully adopt.

An extension of the system is being built at present,
known as the ‘CityRingen’ or Circle line. This is a
completely new line (M3), although it will intersect
the existing lines at Kongens Nytorv and Frederiksberg
stations. It will also extend the metro to Copenhagen

The slit trench entrance to one of Copenhagen’s Cold War
civilian shelters was conveniently open

Most of these shelters were sealed but one was open
and allowed us to view the interior. Intriguingly, some
of the shelters had been incorporated into a children’s
playground and the exit shafts left in place and used as
seating area and tables.

Elsewhere on either side of the substantial moat were the
original defences. The moat had to be shallow enough
to prevent large ships gaining access but deep enough to
prevent invaders simply wading across.

53

Some of the emergency exits from Cold War shelters
have been incorporated into a children’s playground
as seating areas. Photo Martin Dixon

There were the remains of several magazines and
accommodation blocks but most of the barracks are now
part of the ‘freetown’ of Christiania, established in the
1970s as an alternative community with squatters taking
up residence in the abandoned buildings. The residents
now have some autonomy and provide a colourful
backdrop.

Frederiksberg Civil Defence Bunker

Our morning continued with a metro-ride to Frederiksberg
and a short walk to its impressive Town Hall which
although started in 1942 was not completed (due to
World War II) until 1953. Beneath the Town Hall is a
Civil Defence Command Post, built as one of 23 within
Greater Copenhagen.

The city was split into regions, and further subdivided
into sectors. This site was codenamed AFR - Afsnit
(Section) FRederiksberg. As the Town Hall was the
administrative centre for the neighbourhood (it still
employs around 800 people today) it was the logical site
for the bunker.

The main entrance to the Frederiksberg bunker.

The outer blast door can just be seen, as well as the second
security door. Above the door lintel can be seen pressure
valves and the coloured lights indicating alert status.
The map on the right dates from 1967 and shows the limits
of Frederiksberg within Greater Copenhagen

The bunker occupies about 400 square metres; through
the first air-locked blast door was a side room holding
the emergency generator. Sadly this was the one area not
accessible to us as it is still provides standby power for the
whole building. Within the airlock were decontamination
facilities. Inside the bunker, a central control room
( situationsrummet ) is surrounded by rooms for support
staff. Our guide was ex-Civil Defence and had worked
in this very bunker so knew the ropes well.

We had a short presentation about how the system
would have worked. Alongside a marked-up map of
the suburb; coloured metal symbols were stored on a
rack. These would have been hung on different ‘area’
grids to show what resources were available and what
was already deployed in different areas. For example a
red symbol was equivalent to twenty firemen and their
appliances. Another indicated six ambulance workers in
three ambulances. This system is believed to have been
unique to Denmark.

Briefing by an ex Civil Defence leader within the
Frederiksberg bunker. We are being shown the system
of hanging tokens that were used to monitor the
deployment of emergency services and rescue parties.

The map on the left is dated 1999, the last year the centre
was used for exercise. The small TV monitor is a more
recent addition and used as part of school visits

Observation Posts

Schools would have been used as mobilisation centres
and we were told that 100,000 stretchers were available
for a population of around the same number. Presumably,
after a serious incident the first message to control would
be ‘100,000 injured, send 200,000 stretcher-bearers’!
Observation Posts located atop three towers (including
the Town Hall itself and one at the nearby Carlsberg
Brewery) would have been used to triangulate and report
damage. In the worst case, areas for mass burial had been
identified and were marked on the control map.

After the presentation, we had free time to explore
for ourselves. Around the central room was one room
for the police ( politi ) but most of the rest were for
the civil defence. Adjacent to the control room was a
communications room (, signalrum ). Other main rooms
included those for dining, resting etc (< oppholsrum ). These
could also be changed into sleeping quarters if needed.

54

Dormitory in the Frederiksberg Civil Defence Bunker.
On the far wall is one of the three emergency exits

Toilets and a small kitchen completed the accommodation.
Two half-height emergency exits were also provided in
case the main entrance became unusable due to falling
or collapsed masonry. There was also a manhole which
led to a lower basement which we persuaded our guide
to let us lift but not enter.

A bank of lights throughout the bunker gave a current
status position as follows. From the top down the lights
indicated:

Air Raid in progress (Red)

Bunker in shutdown (Amber)

All systems operational (Green)

Head of Police present (White)

Head of Fire Service present (White)

We were delighted to find that both the lighting control
panel and the slave displays throughout the bunker still
worked perfectly. Sixty people would have operated in the
bunker for a 48-hour shift. The last known contingency
exercise in the bunker was in 1999 but it remains
perfectly preserved. To its credit, the municipality opens
it regularly for visitors and many schools visit as part of
their history syllabus.

If it ain’t Baroque...

Emerging blinking into the sunlight, we had time for a
picnic lunch in Frederiksberg Gardens before passing the
eponymous baroque Palace to enter the S0ndermarken
(literally ‘Southern Field’). Here we were to visit the
Cisternerne (Cisterns), a once-forgotten subterranean
reservoir that originally contained the supply of drinking
water for Copenhagen, holding as much as sixteen million
litres of clean water.

In 1853, a cholera epidemic cost the city more than
4,700 lives, where the source of infection was the highly
contaminated water from the city’s many wells. Clean
drinking water therefore became a priority and the
cisterns were a key part of the solution. Excavation started
in 1856, and the reservoir was completed three years later.
Originally, the reservoir was open to the elements and
provided pleasant reflections of the nearby Frederiksberg
Palace. To reduce the chance of pollution the reservoir
was covered over in 1891. On the same occasion, a lawn

was built with a fountain in the middle. The cisterns
ceased to function as a drinking water reservoir in 1933,
and were finally drained in 1981.

The emergency exit from the Cistern in S0ndermarken
Park in Copenhagen. The glass roof provides light to
the art installation below, where moss and other
plants currently grow within the reservoir
The cisterns cover 4,320 square metres and consist of three
equal spaces. The ceilings are 4.2 metres high with a maximum
designed water level of 3.7 metres. The walls in the Cisterns
are built of sturdy granite blocks, the floor is cast concrete, the
pillars bearing the ceiling are masonry, while the ceiling itself
is made of moulded concrete.

The interior of the Cistern. The walkway forms part of the
art installation as shallow water now completely covers
the floor of the reservoir. The masonry pillars and
cast concrete roof can also be seen
In 1996, in connection with Copenhagen’s status as European
City of Culture, the underground water reservoir was put to use
as an exhibition space. Today, the Cisterns form an integral part
of Frederiksberg Museums, acting as a venue for art exhibitions
and other events where the singularity of its architecture and
atmosphere remains a core attraction.

Wet Wet Wet

In 2017, to celebrate 150 years of diplomatic relations between
Denmark and Japan, a variety of cultural events are taking
place in both countries throughout the year. These include “An
ambitious exhibition in the Cisterns (which) will be a journey
through an underground sea of light and darkness, when the
internationally acknowledged Japanese architect Hiroshi
Sambuichi modifies the monumental halls.”

The Water is Sambuichi’s first major exhibition outside Japan.

55

“Water will again fill the Cisterns; daylight will penetrate and
plants will grow in the special, C0 2 -saturated climate. The
visitor will wander over the water on an interpretation of the
Japanese Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Miyajima.”

The exhibition’s website also warns: “Visitors should also
be prepared to step into a darkness. Weak and endangered
should be extra careful!” We followed the directions and
entered almost complete darkness - despite our instincts, we
were urged not to use torches or flash which might destroy
the artistic intent.

Eventually, walking along well-fenced walkways raised above
the floor level, we emerged into an area of the reservoir with
a water spray, natural daylight and a complex arrangement of
mirrors. Here we could see the original construction details
but also appreciate a novel installation for a derelict industrial
space.

The long walkway gives an idea of the massive size of
the Cistern. The walkway is traversed in almost complete
darkness, leading to natural light at the end which is
reflected by a series of mirrors

Further along the walkway a wooden bridge crossed over
the water, illuminated with Japanese lanterns. Elsewhere
a surface camera obscura beamed its image onto a back
projected screen where we could view the Frederiksberg
Palace and other visitors enjoying the spring sunshine.
Although the art installation might not have been to
everyone’s taste, it did allow the cistern to be seen with
water in it once again - albeit only a few inches deep.
Central Station

Our visit over, we walked and took an ‘S-Tog’ (Suburban)
train to the Central Station, the third on the same site and
opened in 1911. Outside, the main station building is a
mixture of brick and granite and inside a fine wooden roof
covers ticket offices, cafes, shops and circulation space.
The twelve platforms are all underneath the concourse
and have been escalator-connected since 1980. We met
under an impressive chandelier to continue our journey
(at least most of us did - note to future visit organisers,
always specify which of the two chandeliers you intend
to meet under!).

We took the S-tog again to 0sterport (East Gate) and
walked around the adjacent Castle’s double moat to
Churchill Park - so-called as it holds a bust of Winston
Churchill commemorating the liberation of Copenhagen

The impressive wooden vaulted ceiling in Copenhagen’s
Central Railway Station, dating from 1911. Just like
the UK, weekends often mean line closures and
a team is replacing the track to the left

by British Forces. Work has also started here on an
underground (literally and figuratively) museum to show
the work of the Danish Resistance in World War II.

Cold War civilian shelters grouped around
Copenhagen Castle moat

Entering the Castle (Kastellet) proper, we found an
impressive array of buildings, many still used by the
military. The Chief of Staff has offices here and the military
barracks are still in use. Other buildings include a windmill
- installed in order to improve the garrison’s ability to
withstand a siege, although some members postulated it
could also have been used for gunpowder manufacture.

The impressive Kings Gate - the main southern entrance
to Copenhagen castle (Kastellet), dated 1663.

The bust is of Frederik 111

56

Our own destination was an extra to the published
programme. Whilst researching the castle site for our
visit, Lars noticed one of the plans marked a bunker.
He approached the current castle Commandant who
explained that the site is used as a ‘club house’ by the
Danish, UN and NATO Veterans participating in foreign
missions (think more ‘British Legion’ than Chelsea
Pensioners!).

Probably the Best Bunker in the World (2)

The Veterans kindly arranged to specially open the bunker
for our visit and it turned out to have been built by the
occupying Germans in World War II. Situated adjacent
to the Commandant’s House in the castle, it turned out to
be a standard design German Command Bunker (model
R608). The structure is in an excellent state of repair and
we enjoyed a pleasant drink whilst exploring the inside
or outside in the pleasant adjacent garden. A relaxing end
to a long day’s exploration.

The largest room in the German-built WWII type R608
command bunker. Behind the United Nations beret is a
machine gun loophole which covers the entrance passage

Ventilation and filter stacks in the German type R608
command bunker

Suitably refreshed, most of the party took the riverboat
service back to a Metro station and then had time to
freshen up before enjoying a generous buffet a few
hundred metres from our hotel. Returning to the hotel
we found the management had a relaxed attitude to us
imbibing our own duty-free or supermarket drinks and
we whiled away the hours until it was past our bedtimes.
It was Eurovision night which most of us studiously
avoided, but one or two couldn’t resist.

A busy scene after a busy day as the group eat
a sumptuous buffet meal

Underground, Overground

Sunday dawned and with the sun beaming down we
walked to Orestad Station once again. As well as being
on the Metro line, there is also a mainline station here and
we were able to catch the 0933 direct to Mahno Central
in Sweden via the 0resund Crossing.

This is a sixteen-kilometre-long road and rail link
between Sweden and Denmark. Construction began in
September 1993 and the crossing opened in June 2000,
when thousands of people cycled, ran or walked over
the link on special ‘Open Bridge’ days. The crossing has
also become famous as the setting for the TV thriller The
Bridge , written by Hans Rosenfeldt.

The concept of a fixed link across Oresund (literally ‘Ear
Strait’) is not new. For centuries, 0resund presented
an obstacle to the transport of passengers and freight
between Sweden and Denmark. On the other hand, it also
provided protection in times of conflict between the two
countries, most recently during the German occupation
of Denmark.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, several
proposals were put forward, although a lack of financing
and political support meant that the proposals never got
past the drawing board. Stable political and economic
environments in both Sweden and Denmark towards
the end of the century, however, laid a new foundation
for the project.

The crossing consists of three sections: a bridge, an
artificial island and a tunnel. The bridge accounts for
half the length of the link (approx eight kilometres) with
the two 204m-high pylons supporting the 490 metre
bridge-span across the Flinte channel. On the bridge,
the railway and motorway run on separate levels with
the railway on the lower deck and vehicle traffic on the
upper deck.

Most of the bridge structures - the bridge piers and bridge
spans - were built on land and subsequently towed out
to the bridge alignment by a large floating crane. The
Swedish end had to be realigned to avoid a then-active
coastal artillery battery which wasn’t shown on the
planners’ maps.

57

Crow section of the Otrsund Tunnel
Constructed by laying pre-cast concrete
segments in an excavated trench on the sea bed

|0 m

Construction started in March 2005 and the
line opened in December 2010 - six months
ahead of schedule. A new intermediate
station named Triangeln was constructed by
sinking two 25-metre shafts and then using
roadheaders to excavate the platform area.
The station at Mahno Central was excavated
by cut-and-cover construction of an 800-metre
box.

Salt and Pepper

The four-kilometre immersed tunnel was built from
concrete elements cast on land and subsequently towed
out and lowered into a trench dredged in the 0resund
seabed. Linking the bridge and tunnel is the man-made
island of Peberholm , where the railway and motorway
run.

Peberholm was constructed from the material dredged
from the 0resund seabed to accommodate the bridge
piers and the tunnel. The island’s name (it translates as
‘Pepper Islet’) is a playful reference to the neighbouring
natural island of Saltholm (‘Salt Islet’).

Peberholm was built to enable traffic to pass between the
bridge, where rail and vehicle traffic run on two levels,
to the tunnel where traffic runs on the same level. Public
access is not allowed and it serves as a nature reserve
allowing scientists to monitor species in an undisturbed
environment. Over five hundred species of plant have
been identified, along with many fauna including the
rare green toad.

The crossing was exceptionally smooth, with ticket,
passport and customs checks all carried out during the
journey. Announcements were made in three languages
(Danish, Swedish and English). On reaching mainland
Sweden, we passed through Malmo City Tunnel
('Citytunneln ). This is a 17-kilometre rail link, built to
route traffic from the Oresund Crossing to central Malmo.

The train to Malmo speeds effortlessly through
the 0resund Tunnel

Six kilometres of the route are in tunnel, mostly
constructed using Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs). The
new station at Malmo Central changed it from a terminus
to a through station. This allows through-running trains
to the rest of Sweden.

The newly built subterranean platforms at Malmo
now allow the through-running of0resund trains
to destinations further within Sweden

Spitzbunker

On a glorious spring day, we had time to explore some of
the defences of Malmo City from different eras. Firstly
we walked to a German-designed above-ground air-raid
shelter (a type of hochbunker , literally ‘highbunker’).

Malmo’s Spitzbunker of cast concrete and an iron-coned
roof has protected status reflecting its rarity

58

This dates from World War II and is also known as a
s pitzbunker (‘pointed bunker’) or Winkel Tower, after
its inventor. The neighbouring Kockums Shipyard had
dealings with Germany in the 1930s and this no doubt
gave them access to the German design.

Within Germany, 98 examples of this type of air-raid
shelter are known to have been built, mostly around
factories and stations, especially where the local geology
was not suitable for underground shelters. Although it is
hoped to open the shelter for enthusiasts, at present we
had to be content with viewing from the outside.

Next we walked back into the centre of town to view the
site of a Cold War civilian shelter. Swedish policy was
to provide protection for all civilians in public shelters,
which are universally marked with a blue triangle on an
orange background labelled skyddsrum (shelter). Before
reaching our destination, we passed another smaller
shelter from the same period just beyond the train station.
Cold War Shelters

This happened to be open and was being used as a cold
store by the neighbouring kebab stall. With the permission
of the somewhat bemused owner, forty of us quickly
descended to view the interior. The bunker was particularly
well supplied with food (lettuce and chilli sauce only for
vegetarians!). According to the Swedish authorities’ MSB
map which covers all shelters, it was numbered 160269-6,
is active and can accommodate sixty people.

Our unscheduled entrance into the Skyddsrum (shelter)
number 160269-6, adjacent to Malmos Central Station

We continued onwards to visit the site of a larger Cold
War public shelter. From the 1950s onwards, all new
buildings had to include a shelter, usually in basement
space. Although we couldn’t gain access we could see
the entrance blast doors to a huge shelter that could hold
over 1,800 people. Today the top level of the shelter is a
gym and the lower level is a car park.

Even now the rules say that the space has to be able to
be converted to its shelter configuration at 48 hours’
notice. The two floors would be fitted out with tables,
chairs and beds. Other services such as generators, air¬
handling and kitchens would also be provided to sustain
those sheltering, at least until the worst of the fallout
had passed.

Entrance Passage to the large two-storey underground
shelter, used as a gym and a car park. Blast waves would
hopefully have passed through this passage and helped
protect the bunker entrance to the left

Pillboxes

Finally we met up with Torbjorn Anderson, a local
enthusiast and community employee. He had arranged
access to a couple of World War II pillboxes that once
protected Mahno’s coastline.

To ensure Sweden’s neutrality wasn’t threatened, an
extensive line of defences was built around the south of
Sweden. These were known as the Skane or Per Albin
Line and included pillboxes every three or four hundred
metres.

Most of these, some angular and some circular, held
machine guns. Every tenth or so pillbox was different,
designed to allow a 37mm anti-tank gun to be rolled in
and improve the firepower against heavier armoured
vehicles.

World War II machine-gun pillbox in Malmo, renovated
and specially opened for us by local enthusiast Torbjorn
Anderson. The observation tower can be seen on top
First we visited a machine gun post in the centre of
town, kept in good order by the council and volunteers.
Normally the entrance is blocked by a concrete slab
but Torbjorn had arranged for forklifts to remove this
especially for our visit. Inside was a small tower with
iron staples that could be ascended. At the top a speaking
tube still provided communication with the crew below.
Grenade chutes were also provided to repulse close-
quarter assaults.

59

The second site we visited had a larger entrance door
- presumably just wide enough for a 37mm Bofors
anti-tank gun. Inside, recesses in the floor of the pillbox
would have accommodated the gun’s split trail to keep
the gun in place when fired. This larger bunker also had
a small observation tower. In one comer could be seen
the remains of a small heater installation to cope with the
harsh winters. As well as the gun port, grenade chutes
were once again in evidence.

Main firing loop in the anti-tank pill box; a smaller
loophole on the left can also be seen. The wooden planking
on the floor covers recesses which would have held
the gun’s split trail to reduce recoil

During the break for lunch many chose to visit Mahno
Castle, an impressive moated structure dating from the
1530s but with no casemate access. Within the castle is a
technology museum which amongst other exhibits houses
a Kockums U-boat which can be boarded.

Over and Under

Meeting back at the station, we added a new form of
transport and boarded a coach for the return trip to Denmark.
We had an en-route stop to view the bridge from a nearby
viewpoint. This was the original artillery fort that had
influenced the location of the Swedish end of the bridge.

This Observation Post is all that remains visible of the
coastal artillery fort that once protected the 0resund Strait

Originally housing three 75mm guns, it was rarely used
on exercise due to its proximity to the busy 0resund
Strait and the closeness to Danish waters. Today it is
completely covered over apart from the observation post
whose concrete roof was being used as a barbecue. From

the viewpoint the enormity and beauty of the bridge could
really be appreciated.

The return coach toll for the crossing is around £175
but it was well worthwhile as the view of the structure
was better from the top deck of the bridge. As we
approached the tunnel portion of the crossing we drove
over Peberholm and drew alongside the railway, below us
on the bridge. The reason for the tunnel became clearer -
the crossing terminates precisely at Copenhagen Airport
and a bridge would have provided a navigational hazard
during the use of certain runways.

Our return coach journey to Denmark - about to transition
from bridge to tunnel on Pepper Islet. The middle portal
houses the eastbound road carriageway; the wider portal
for the two rail tracks can be seen to the left hand side

Kongelunds Fort

Our penultimate site of the day once back in Denmark
was Kongelunds Fort (originally called Kongelund’s
Battery). It was built between 1914 and 1916 with four
29cm howitzers as its main armament. In addition there
were four 75mm and two 47mm cannons. The task of the
battery was to protect the minefields that were being laid
out in Kpge Bay in the event of war in order to prevent
enemy naval forces from operating in these waters.

Observation bunker at Kongelunds Fort
The armaments were updated in 1938 to four 15cm guns,
relocated from the coastal defence ship Herluf Trolle.
During the German occupation in World War II, eight
15cm Skoda guns were installed. In 1959 the fort became
a radar installation for Nike missiles and we spent time
exploring the radar platforms from that period. Doors

60

to underground magazines and passages were sadly all
locked although the moat retained some interesting iron-
armoured caponiers. The fort was decommissioned in
1982 and is now owned by the local authority.

Platforms at Kongelunds Fort which would have housed
the Nike anti-aircraft radar heads. Members took full
advantage of the free access arrangements

Unusual iron caponier protecting the moat of Kongelunds
Fort which can still be seen in water beyond it

Dragor Fort

We experienced a spell of rain but after a short drive
arrived at Dragpr Fort in brilliant sunshine once again. The
fort was built in the period 1910 to 1914 on an artificial
island, approx 400 metres from the coast immediately
south of Dragpr village. The fort corresponds exactly to
Saltholm flak fort (later Flakfortet) in the straits which
was constructed at the same time.

The fortress’s mission was to help prevent enemy bombing
of Copenhagen, prevent a hostile landing on the Amager
southern coast and prevent enemy shipping operations
in Drogden and Flinterenden. It’s still surrounded by a
moat, but most of the water between it and the original
coastline has now been infilled and reclaimed.

We were treated to an informative and entertaining tour
by Torben Bpdker, its current owner, who bought the
fort in 2002 for around 3.4 million Danish krone (say
£400,000). Torben lives in the former Officers’ Mess and
his daughter in the former Guardhouse! The Fort is run
as a small hotel and conference centre but the conversion
has retained almost all of the original layout and services.
To quote the hotel website, ‘It is exciting and at the same
time a little forbidden’.

The final site of a full day - the impressive entrance to Dragor
Fort showing its construction dates of 1910-14. Now in use as
a hotel, most of its key features have been preserved

The impressive entrance hall to Drag0r Fort today. Rails
can just be discerned either side of the red carpet welcome
we received. The board to the right is the original duty
board, showing crew allocations to various posts

The rooms nearest the entrance were barracks and less
well protected, with flat ceilings. Many of these now
form the hotel’s bedrooms - the beds of which seemed as
large as a complete bedroom at the Cabinn Metro. As we
progressed further underground, the rooms had vaulted
ceilings and originally housed magazines, plant or control
rooms. Between the two types of room ran a long corridor
with ablution blocks. Much of the floor still had rails in
place for the movement of shells (or according to Torben,
awaiting the extension of the Copenhagen Metro!).
Power and Glory

Of particular note were two splendid diesel generators,
dating from the 1950s and in full working order. They
have only around 600 hours on the clock and the room
had that unmistakable smell of well-oiled machinery.
In a couple of places spiral staircases led up to the gun
emplacements above. After our guided tour of the hotel
area, we were free to wander around up top and try and
make sense of the many phases of armaments.

In terms of what lay above ground, we learnt it was
originally equipped with four 35.5cm howitzers and
various smaller pieces. In World War II the Germans
moved most of its heavy armaments to the Atlantic Wall.
During the Cold War it was re-equipped with three double
40mm anti-aircraft guns.

61

Generator and switchgear within Drag0r Fort

Gun emplacement atop; the 0resund Bridge is visible
in the centre distance

Again, in the 1980s, the fortress was re-armoured with two
76mm anti-aircraft guns. We were able to scramble into the
battery observation post, and down into the emplacements
and their ready stores. The most recent of these held racks
with removable trays, shaped to hold the anti-aircraft shells.

Passages beneath Drag0r Fort, connecting the magazines
below and gun emplacements above

Our visit to Dragpr concluded with a glorious meal
within one of the fort’s original dining rooms. The tables
had been decorated with candelabra and we enjoyed a
seemingly endless buffet prepared by the hotel’s team.
It was a great opportunity to get to know our newer
members, as well as to cement those friendships which
in some cases have lasted almost forty years.

The original dining area at Drag0r Fort transformed into
the venue for Sub Brit's evening meal; it’s not often we dine
with candelabra and linen tablecloths. Original blast doors
can be seen on the right-hand wall. Photo Martin Dixon

Air Defence Headquarters

That a capital like Copenhagen would have an air defence
is no big surprise. In the Cold War, enemy planes could
reach the city in less than ten minutes so things had to
work fast. After World War II Denmark acquired 90mm
anti-aircraft guns from the United States. With a range of
8.5 km they were good enough up until the mid-1950s.
With the arrival of much faster jet bombers, artillery
became obsolete and the US sent the modem Nike missile
system to Denmark. With a range of 160 km and radar-
guided all the way to the target, it became a great update
of the defence of the capital.

Batteries with missiles were placed in a ring around the
city and also elsewhere in Denmark. To control these
new defences, from 1954 all air defence in the greater
Copenhagen area was controlled from the Ejby Air Defence
Bunker, in the Rpdovre suburb to the west of Copenhagen.
The centre had contact with individual batteries as well as the
surveillance radar stations. With computer communication
the centre could send information to a single battery radar,
telling it what target to aim at.

The exterior of the Ejby Air-Defence Bunker, built within
the earlier Vestvolden. Nature is now adding its own
coat of camouflage

Early on Monday - with the same bus but a different driver
- we made our way to Rpdovre. The coach was boldly
labelled Treasurer Subterranea Britannica but Tony was
kind enough to share it with the rest of the group.

62

A

Sub Brit is fortunate as, unlike some other industrial or military history societies, we have always attracted
members of all ages. We asked Thomas Hughes, the youngest member on our Copenhagen weekend, for his
impressions:

Hello, my name is Thomas Hughes. I’m sixteen years old and I’ve been a member of Sub Brit for around six
years now. I have accompanied my Dad on quite a few Sub Brit trips over the years and I have got to know
some of the other members quite well. I recently accompanied my Dad on the study weekend to Denmark

and Sweden. I found the trip was very educational
and thoroughly enjoyable.

The highlight of the trip for me was when we visited
the Bridge and Tunnel on the way to Mahno in
Sweden, which I thought was an amazing piece of
engineering. I am currently sitting my exams and
in September I am hoping to attend Engineering
College in Newhaven.

On the last day of our trip the group visited a
former top secret military facility known as Stevns
Fort. I found this facility amazing as some of the
main rooms still contained equipment from when
the bunker was active. I found it fascinating the
incredible lengths the Danish military went to keep
this facility top secret.

I am already looking forward to the next study
weekend next year!

We were pleased to welcome local member Allan Pelch
who joined us for the day. We assembled outside the Ejby
Bunker, built within the earlier Vestvolden defence ditch.
There we were met by another Martin, our knowledgeable

Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable host Martin
introduces the site to Sub Brit members.

Note the tank traps in the far distance

The protected entrance to the Ejby Bunker

guide, and entered the bunker through blast doors. The
whole construction had the feel of a UK anti-aircraft
operations room, which we learnt was not a coincidence
but because the design was indeed based on the UK’s
experience in World War II.

Operations Room

We started in the centre of the bunker, in the two-level
Operations Room. Like the rest of the bunker, most of its
contents have been recreated as the original artefacts were
lost upon closure. Here we were given a summary of the
history of the site and then given freedom to wander the
site. The main plotting board has now been replaced with
a computer simulation that allows visitors to experience
the tension surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis and to
try and take actions that prevent World War III (we failed).

The Operations Room at Ejby Bunker, viewed from one
of the balconies. Those on the floor itself are battling to
avert World War III (unsuccessfully as it turned out!).
The equipment is part of the modern educational
installation and not original

63

Within the Ops Room one original part of the bunker
remains. This is the Status Board which displayed
information such as the security level the country was
at and local sunrise and sunset (and the same for the
moon). Most bizarrely (and we were assured this was
not a joke), the board showed what country Denmark
was at war with! Luckily it displayed ‘End of Exercise’
throughout our visit.

Around the operations room ran a corridor, with other
offices, dormitories, dining room etc located around the
outside. Each room had a label in the corridor but as
these were largely Danish acronyms it didn’t succeed in
making the set-up any clearer to us. Most of these rooms
now hold displays or recreated offices, with some well-
thought-out games aimed at schoolchildren which helped
explain the history and purpose of the bunker and of the
Vestvolden in which it is built.

OATO

KENDE ORD-.1200 - „11S9Z:_
ALT. ..1200 -

BEREDSKAB

1 KRIG MED '

ENDEX

SOL OP

SOL NED

TU5M0RKE

MANE

MANE OP

MANE NED

UOSTfl^LiNGSKOM'TltOL. EM CON

(RSSTfilKTIOMEPl GEMifiELiri

W ABC -TRUSSELS NIVEAU

The original status board within the Ejby Air Defence
Bunker. As well as the expected threat level, sunrise and
weather information, the second box bizarrely includes
‘Who we are at War with’. Luckily ‘Endex’ (End of Exercise)
is on display at present. Photo Martin Dixon
One of the few remaining rooms that is intact is the
generator room. The big diesel engine is still standing
with all its ancillary equipment. Martin had arranged
for one of the engineers who worked on site when it
was active to come in so he could explain the set-up and
answer our questions.

Diesel Generator within Ejby Bunker; one of the engineers
who worked on the plant when the site was active had
come in specially to help answer questions

In 1971 the air defence role merged with a bigger NATO-
controlled bunker in Vedbaek and the Ejbybunker turned
into a communication centre as well as the wartime
HQ for Military Region VI, in charge of the defence of
Copenhagen and northern Sjalland. The military left in
2001, unfortunately taking almost all their equipment with
them before the Danish Nature Board got to take over the
bunker. It opened as a museum in 2012.

Vestvolden

Having spent a delightful time exploring the bunker,
we followed Martin to some Vestvolden sites that have
also been preserved. The Vestvolden was a defence line
around nine kilometres from downtown Copenhagen. It
stretches over 14 km and complemented coastal and other
land defences to protect the capital from attack.

It was built between 1888 and 1892 with trenches,
ramparts, moats and underground defences. During its
active days until 1920 there was a standard-gauge railway
along its length that transported equipment between the
different parts of the wall.

Vestvolden translates literally as ‘West embankment’
but is better translated as ‘Western defences’. It is
contemporary and equivalent to the Portsdown Forts
above Portsmouth - facing inland to prevent a flanking
attack from taking the capital by land. The well-preserved
remains are today put to more peaceful recreational uses:
museums, picnic areas and running and cycle paths.

The first site we visited was one of the ten permanent
gun batteries and its integral underground magazines.
The latter were double-walled for damp control with
separate magazines for shells and cartridges. There was
just room to squeeze round the air gap provided we all
went the same way round.

Gun Battery with associated underground magazines at
Vestvolden. The guns themselves were kept nearby under
cover apart from exercises and hostilities

An elegant elevator to the gun positions was preserved as
were the illumination windows around the magazine. We
leamt that the firepower would have been 12cm wheeled
guns - largely kept under cover during peacetime to prevent
deterioration, and wheeled into position in times of tension.
Plinth of Darkness

We continued our exploration and climbed up onto the
ramparts from where the substantial canal or moat to the
west of the wall could be seen. The area is also used for

64

Ammunition Hoist within the magazine of the VestVolden
Gun Battery. The text translates as ‘maximum load 480kg ’

the grazing of sheep who listened attentively; they looked
suspiciously like the famous Borrowdale Greybacks we
have encountered on previous Sub Brit trips. We passed
a small emplacement for a ranging station a little outside
the gun battery and then descended towards the moat.
Here we entered a double flanking caponier within the moat;
these were built every 600 metres to fully protect the defences.
Cleverly, half of the building had seen minor restoration
whereas the mirror image was in ‘as found’ condition.

Twin Caponier within the moat of Vestvolden. The second
opening from the right is where the searchlight would have
emerged from on overhead rails to illuminate the moat

What was particularly impressive were the two searchlights
on overhead tracks which would have slid outside (on the
‘friendly’ side) and illuminated the ditch in the event of
attack. The ‘restored’ half showed where the soldiers would
have slung bunks. In the unrestored portion could be seen
the plinth where a generator would have powered the
searchlights, mains electricity being unavailable in 1890.
Finally we looked round a restored surface building which
was the store for the six 15cm howitzers which would
have been used along the wall. Sadly all the original guns
had been scrapped. As in a modem train depot, a traverser
outside the main doors would have moved the pieces onto

The well-preserved interior of the caponier, showing firing
positions. The wooden ceiling was added to reduce the
likelihood of injuries caused by splinters of concrete injuring
occupants in the event of a direct hit

the ‘main line’. In the event of conflict, civilian locomotives
would have provided the motive power - the defensive lines
had a connection with the passenger network.

One final object of interest was a reconstmcted ‘phony gun’
from World War I. This was of the correct dimensions but
built of wood and canvas. It has been built to the original
plans in conjunction with a local unemployment centre.
What has been done with the whole Vestvolden area is a
model of how to return military land to nature but at the
same time preserving its history. Recreation and military
history exist harmoniously side by side (apart from a
bunch of Brits keeping to the left rather than the right of
the combined footpath/cycle track!).

The delights of Stevns

After an hour’s coach ride we arrived at our final site of
the weekend and most attendees agreed we had saved the
best until last. South of Copenhagen lies Stevns, inscribed
on the World Heritage List for the fossilised remains that
lie within its chalk cliffs.

These hold one of the world’s best exposed K/T
(Cretaceous-Tertiary) boundaries. But other secrets also
lie here; remnants of the Cold War. On the surface is a
powerful anti-aircraft missile battery and deep within the
chalk are bunkers and coastal-artillery batteries.
Yesterday we had visited the anti-aircraft radar site at
Kongelunds Fort, this morning we had seen the Operations
Room at Ejbybunker and now we were to see the ‘business
end’ of the air defence of Denmark. Unlike many countries,
UK use of anti-aircraft missiles became restricted to
military sites whereas other countries continued to defend
populated areas throughout the Cold War.

We started our tour above ground, led by Jan who had
himself commanded a nearby Hawk Battery. HAWK was
an anti-aircraft missile system, in service from 1970, from
the alleged acronym Homing All the Way Killer. In 1984
it replaced the earlier Nike system which had also been
based at Stevns since the 1960s.

Unlike the Nike system, Hawk was a mobile sytem and
the many components were each housed in wheeled or

65

Surface displays at Stevns; two Nike missiles, a tank, and
behind that our coach

tracked vehicles. A second Hawk unit was based a few
miles north near the Stevns lighthouse so the defensive
firepower was immense.

Firepower

Essentially the system used acquisition or search radars
to identify airborne threats and then tracking or targetting
radars to direct the missile which homed in upon the radar
signal. Associated units held the Battery Control Centre
(BCC) and Platoon Command Post (PCC) and other support
functions such as generators and missile transporters.
Most important of course were the missile launchers
themselves. There were six of these per battery,
each carrying three missiles which could be fired
independently. With a spare missile for each one, this
made a total of 36 missiles per battery.

Trio of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles at Stevns. The missiles,
which would be fired individually, are on a trailer as
the whole Hawk system was mobile. The missiles would
normally be protected from the weather by a canvas dome
which has been lowered and can be seen behind the missiles

Under normal conditions, the launch vehicles were
protected beneath canvas domes which could be quickly
hydraulically collapsed. The Hawk units were used by
many NATO countries (the UK had Bloodhound and
Rapier) and their components were fully interchangeable
so a Belgian radar could be used to direct a German missile.
We were told that within three metres from launch the
missile would be travelling supersonically! The warhead

was a comparatively small charge surrounded by
thousands of ball bearings - essentially a giant shotgun
- which would destroy any incoming threat.

Our lesson in aerial defence over, we turned our attention
to the coastal artillery. The bunker, deep within the chalk,
was constructed in 1953 as one of two Cold War sites. The
second was Langelands Fort on the island of Langeland
to the southwest of Copenhagen.

Their task was to control the southern inlet to the Baltic
and the outlet towards the Norwegian Sea if the Warsaw
Pact forces tried to get out of the Baltic. It was Langelands
Fort that detected the Soviet ships taking nuclear missiles
to Cuba in 1962.

Turned out Gneisenau

Denmark reused many of the German-built World War
II gun positions and modernised them with, for instance,
radar. In the Stevns case the two 15cm twin-barrel guns
were installed in 1955 from a German position in the
west of Denmark. These guns were originally from the
battleship Gneisenau.

After the English Channel daylight dash (Operation Cerbems)
in 1942 Gneisenau went into dry-dock and was later hit by
the RAF. Despite attempts to repair her, eventually all of her
heavy artillery was taken and reused as coastal artillery. Two
of the 15cm twin-turrets are now at Stevns, the rest were
installed in Finland and at Den Helder, Holland.

Elena at the controls of the 15cm twin barrelled gun at
Stevns, originally built for the Gneisenau. The red and green
correspond to port and starboard barrels, which could be
controlled independently in elevation, but not in traverse. The
separate cartridge and shell for the gun can be seen bottom left

We were able to enter the turret from above and see the
immense armament. The turret alone weighs 110 tonnes
plus 10 tonnes each for the gun barrels. A crew of 36
would have operated each gun, including fifteen in the
turret and the rest in fire control and feeding ammunition.
The two gun barrels could be elevated independently
and a trained crew could achieve 4-6 shots per minute.
Passing a current radar head and an original periscope, it
was time to take in the delights beneath ground.

We descended eighteen metres through the only
entrance to the north and entered a network of tunnels
frozen in time. At the bottom of a set of stairs was a

66

Plan of Stevns Fort. The white tracks are the surface anti¬
aircraft battery and the grey lines show underground passages.
Underground rooms magazines, barracks etc are in brown.
You can see the fort is effectively two separate batteries, with
one linking corridor. The theory was that a single strike
would never take out both gun positions

decontamination entrance alongside the normal way in.
Near to the entrance was a firing control post for one of
the guns which lay below the periscope on the surface.

The two guns were positioned far enough apart so that
it is unlikely both would be destroyed in a single strike.
Beneath ground, everything was duplicated with the two
sections separated by strong blast doors so that each half
could operate independently.

Unlined tunnel within Stevns Fort; cut in chalk, a layer of flints
can easily be discerned. The left foreground has coat hooks in
situ, middle distance right is the tiled surround of a urinal

Nuclear-Hardened Shelter

The unlined tunnels housed a nuclear-hardened
shelter for around 300 men who had supplies for
three months: 80,000 litres of fuel for the machinery
and an artesian well for water plus everything else
that was needed for survival. The tunnels had been
excavated by hand - drill and blast - and extended
to over 1700 metres. Where side passages led off,
dead-end alcoves had been excavated to prevent
explosions in side passages propagating along the
main tunnel.

Within the complex, groups of buildings were
constructed in chambers but without the walls
touching the natural rock. Firstly this helped minimise
any damp penetration but more importantly it provided
some protection against the subterranean shock waves
associated with large bombs.

The site was run on naval lines and barrack rooms
provided accommodation for 36 crew and ten petty
officers. Washrooms were alongside but the main
tunnel had occasional urinals simply built into the
side wall. No women underground so no screening
provided.

Shell store beneath the 15cm guns in Stevns Fort.

The shell colour indicates its purpose
(eg armour piercing, high explosive, practice etc)

Artillery calculator within the Artillery Control Centre at
Stevns Fort. This mechanical computer took many variables
including temperature, wind, pressure and so on and
coupled with the visual or radar plot of a target calculated
elevation and heading to deliver an accurate trajectory

67

We were able to visit the magazines and ammunition
hoists beneath the gun which were somewhat reminiscent
of France’s Maginot Line forts. We visited the original
Artillery Control Centre which housed an electro¬
mechanical computer for plotting target information
and climatic conditions and calculating the adjustments
needed to gun elevation and trajectory.

All was in an excellent state of preservation as the
contents of the sites had been largely left in place when
the military pulled out. Another room held the emergency
generator which looked surprisingly small for such a
large complex.

Generator within the Stevns Fort

Frozen in Time

From 1984 part of the complex had been used as a Radar
and Communication Centre and this too looked like it was
still in use. Original computers, radar screens, procedures
and reference books all remained in situ from its closure in
2000. Even coffee cups and ‘top shelf’ magazines were still in
place. In one of the rooms we were shown the physical relay
box for the USA-Moscow private hotline dating from 1963.
Part of the site had been a secret NATO Communications
Centre and we were told that operatives were physically

Originally used for construction, this passage emerges
into the open air and could have been used as a last-ditch
emergency exit. The sentry post within was described
as the most boring job in the Danish Navy

The initials ‘KL’carved within the cliffface at Stevns by
a member of the Soviet Special Forces on exercise.
Photo Martin Dixon

padlocked to their desks to prevent code books being
taken off-site. All in all quite a remarkable scene and one
that many of us were reluctant to leave.

One more surprise remained. We went along a side
corridor and then magically out through an emergency
exit to walk out onto the beach beneath the cliffs. There
were two such emergency exits - one for each half of
the fort - and they were originally used to remove spoil
from the excavation.

We could see the deposition layers of the cliff towering
above us although the K/T boundary itself at this point is
beneath sea level. Jan pointed out some climbing pitons
and the initials ‘KL’ carved well above us.

These were left by a member of the Soviet special forces
on exercise - they clearly knew all about the fort and it
was apparently the tradition for new recruits to ‘prove
their mettle’ by leaving a reminder of their visit. We left
no such calling card but departed suitably impressed with
what is a magnificent Cold War site and a suitable climax
to our brilliant weekend in and around Copenhagen.

As usual we owe thanks to all who helped organise the
weekend, Linda, Lars and Tony, plus our local guides
and site owners who without exception gave us such a
warm welcome.

All photos by Clive Penfold unless otherwise
acknowledged.

68

London’s Underground Wells

Stewart Wild

The original vault and spring at the Barnet Physic Well. This is now housed in a 1937 mock-Tudor building.

Photo Heritage of London Trust

For geological reasons London has a vast number of
natural underground watering holes, some going back to
Celtic times. Many of these wells are ‘sacred’ and known
as ‘holy wells’, with healing and therapeutic qualities
ascribed to their (sometimes unpleasant) waters.

There are, or were, over two dozen wells in the London
area, most of which may be located from place names.
Camberwell, Clerkenwell, Sadler’s Wells and Muswell Hill
are four obvious candidates, while St Bride’s Well (Fleet
Street), Black Mary Well (Farringdon Road) and Lady Well
(Lewisham) have all but disappeared in the modem era.
Further afield there are Chadwell Heath, Fulwell,
Hanwell, Seething Wells (Surbiton), Shadwell, Stockwell,
Well Hall, Willesden and Woodford Wells.

King’s Cross Road was named Bagnigge Wells Road
until around 1830 on account of the spring now beneath
Cubitt Street, while Holywell Lane in Shoreditch gets
its name from a long-lost well that probably dates back
to Roman times or even earlier (the well was very close
to the path of Ermine Street). It preserves the name of
the Augustinian priory of Holywell (founded in 1152)

St Govor’s Well in Kensington Gardens. The site is now
occupied by a drinking fountain with the inscription “This

drinking fountain marks the site of an ancient spring, which in
1856 was named St Govor’s Well by the First Commissioner
of Works later to become Lord Llandover. Saint Govor, a
sixth-century hermit, was the patron saint of a church in
Llandover which had eight wells in its churchyard”

69

and is recorded as Haliwellelane in 1382. The well
here is mentioned as Fons Sacer (holy well) in William
FitzStephens’ account of London in 1174.

Until a few years ago there was a pub in the Barbican
called Crowder’s Well, but that’s now gone too*. And
the chalybeate fountain dubbed Shepherd’s Well in Well
Road, Hampstead, dried up long ago. Caesar’s Well is
a spring near Caesar’s Camp on Wimbledon Common
while St Agnes Well still apparently flows under a pump
house in Kensington Gardens.

Map showing position of the holy well, in Holywell Street,
before the building of Aldwych

One holy well still exists, under Australia House in the
Strand. Dating from pagan times, it gave its name to
Holywell Street, a narrow and disreputable thoroughfare
known for its bawdy taverns and dubious booksellers
that ran east-west under what is now Bush House. This
area was redeveloped in the first decade of the twentieth
century, and the vast office building over the eastern end
of the street is now Australia House.

I was recently privileged to attend a social occasion in
a sub-basement bar of Australia House, and invited to
view the top of the holy well that is now capped but still
visible in an adjacent room some thirty feet below street
level. During World War II the well is believed to have
supplied fresh water to office workers when they used
the sub-basement as an air-raid shelter.

My thanks to Dale Eaton and his colleagues of the
Britain-Australia Society.

High Barnet’s Physic Well

One practically unknown well, which may be inspected
underground, thus justifying its appearance in this august
publication, is north of London in the heights of Barnet,
not far from Barnet Hospital in appropriately named
Wellhouse Lane. It is known as the Physic Well, dates
from earliest times and was popular as a medicinal spring
in the seventeenth century.

Sadly it didn’t become as popular as Bath or Leamington
Spa, or Barnet today might look more like Tunbridge
Wells. However it was worthy enough to deserve
a visit from diarist Samuel Pepys who rode across
Barnet Common to take the waters on 11 July 1664 and
apparently drank five glasses.

Australia House well access with cover removed.
Photo John Lill

Disused pump in Australia House used for water
abstraction. Photo John Lill

Although he wrote that he was ‘ill’ on the way home, he
returned with friends three years later (August 1667), at
seven in the morning “to avoid the crowds”. The party then
repaired to the Red Lyon inn where they ate “cheese-cakes”.

Decline and revival

Thirty years later that doughty traveller Celia Fiennes
visited Barnet and reported that the well was not a clear
bubbling spring but “an off-putting deep hole containing
murky and very slow-flowing water”. Despite this, local
people continued to use the well and local landowner the
Duke of Chandos was forced to back off when he tried
to enclose that part of the Common in 1716.

70

Over the next century the well’s decline continued despite
a cover being built in 1808 to keep out leaves and other
rubbish. This collapsed in 1840 and by 1876 the well
was no more than a hand pump in the middle of a field.

The Witch’s Hat. Photo Alan Swan

The Witch’s Hat

Barnet Urban District Council began to take an interest in
1921 when the surrounding fields were surveyed to create
a housing estate. By 1927 nearly two hundred council
houses surrounded the well which was left marooned on
half-an-acre of grass.

In the years that followed, the Council built a strange-
looking mock-Tudor well-house over the spring that
was soon dubbed the Witch’s Hat and is still known as
such by local children today. The well-house has a brick
floor where a short staircase of twelve steps leads down
about ten feet to the well itself, a stone-lined rectangular
opening about six feet by three. I was told that the water
level varies only slightly according to the weather and I
did not taste the water.

For over sixty years the well under the Witch’s Hat was
locked and almost forgotten, and the building is now in a
very poor condition. In 2015, however, Barnet Museum
and Local History Society negotiated with Barnet Council

Clerks * Well. According to the historian John Stow ; writing

in 1603, the well, one of the several springs in the area, took
its name from the annual gathering here of parish clerks
to perform plays based on scripture and was therefore
called Clerken Well; or Clerks * Well. Later the surrounding
district came to be known by the same name. The well was
rediscovered by workmen in 1924 and is now located
inside an office block. It can be visited by appointment

to organise public openings of the well to raise public
interest and funds for restoration. These take place
monthly on Saturdays, 2pm-4pm.

With nearly one thousand visitors in 2016, and support
from Barnet Council, Historic England and Heritage
London, the future of this ancient underground amenity
looks assured.

* The former Crowder’s Well pub in the Barbican has
recently reopened as Wood Street Bar.

Further information:

HERRMANN, Carla, Barnet Physic Well , BametMuseum&Local
History Society 2015, 8pp, ISBN 9781-910003-015.

For Physic Well opening dates 2017-2018:
see www.barnetmuseum.co.uk

Sources:

Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, A. D. Mills, OUP, 2001.
www. davidfurlong. co. uk/holy wellslond .htm

Abandoned mines in Oxfordshire

Stonesfield is a small place in Oxfordshire, about three
miles west of Woodstock, famous amongst architectural
historians and geologists as the location of mines, or
underground quarries, from which ‘stone slates’ were
dug for roofing buildings in the 17 th to 19 th centuries.
The ‘Stonesfield Slates’ are not true metamorphic slates
as are those of Cumbria or North Wales, but fissile
sandy limestones. They were widely used in northwest
Oxfordshire and also in some of the Oxford colleges. Like
‘Horsham Slates’ (also not slates, but fissile sandstones)
they were thick and heavy, needing very strongly built
oak beam roofs to support them. The mine shafts were a
few yards deep, and the tunnels to which they led only
from three to five feet high. All two dozen or so known

mines exploited a lens-shaped bed of stone extending
about two miles from east to west, and one mile from
north to south.

Unlike true metamorphic slate, the material was not split
by hand. Large lumps of the stone of the right quality were
mined from Michaelmas (29 September) to Christmas
(25 December) and left in the open over the ensuing
winter. Frosty weather resulted in the stone splitting to the
required thickness. Craftsmen then trimmed the ‘slates’
to standard sizes, and bored a hole near the margin of
each one for pegging to rafters.

SOURCE: MORGAN, Nina, 2014, Distant thunder: in
the bleak midwinter. Geoscientist 24(11), page 25.

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Here runneth further under

Sam Dawson

The heavily bayed and alcoved tunnel beneath the Wheatsheaf

In the previous edition of Subterranea, Sam Dawson explored some of the wells, tunnels, grottoes and bunkers
beneath the Surrey town of Dorking. He concludes his excellent article by looking at the cellars beneath the hostelries

of the town.

Dorking always had a disproportionate number of inns,
pubs and beer houses. Around forty or more in the 18th
and 19th centuries, in startling proximity. Pubs with
pubs opposite, pubs next door, pubs one door down. The
explanation is its history as a coaching stop and a market
town, whose hostelries offered entertainment, food, drink
and beds to farmers selling and buying livestock - and
also a place where those transactions could be done on
the quiet away from the market and its duties on sales.
The market, or markets to be more exact (corn, cattle,
poultry, general, even one selling snails at one point)
created a need for convenient storage for wholesale and
retail goods, as well as the food and drink necessary to
service the appetites of those who bought and sold them.
The soft rock was a gift. There wasn’t a pub in the town
that didn’t have a substantial cellar below it.

Taverns in the Town

So it’s not a surprise that the fifth largest known
underground site in Dorking is below what was The
Wheatsheaf, now The Quilt Room, at 37-39 High Street

The 16 th -century former Wheatsheaf Inn

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(the fourth largest was below the long-demolished
Sun Inn). Whether access can be achieved requires
investigation.

Built in 1450, The Wheatsheafwas a landmark inn, a genuine
mediaeval survivor. Only closed as licensed premises in
the 1970s, it was then strengthened and conserved, a little
treasure whose frontage enriches the High Street, a stubby
white molar flanked by the incisors of its higher, squarer,
Victorian-facaded neighbours.

It’s built on several levels, up creaking steps and over
wooden floors. And below them too. A small door in the
one-time public bar descends to a roomy cellar, plus its
closed sister basement, now walled up (though visible
through airbricks), presumably for structural reasons as
part of that efficient 1970s restoration
But there’s a layer below that. A deeper one, and even then
sloping slightly downwards. Two tunnels branch away
from each other, each with its own steep and partially
decayed staircase (one with 27 narrow steps, the other
with 13 wider ones). These corridors, both with multiple

Stairs and bays below the former Wheatsheaf Inn

One of the tunnels two storeys
below the Wheatsheaf
bays for holding bottles crudely and
deeply gouged out of their sides, head
in opposite directions. One towards the
former yard, outhouses and stables. The
other out under the High Street.

It’s an atmospheric little labyrinth, with
that instantly recognisable feel and
smell of somewhere closed and very
rarely visited. It also holds a rather dark
little secret, a deep-buried arena where
cockerels were set to fight to the death
for the edification of spectators.

A Cock and Bull story?

That’s not hyperbole; it is secretive.
Cockfighting, bull- and bear-baiting were

Inn, 37-39 High Street

---. Walled off

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One of many bays for holding bottles
outlawed by the 1835 Cruelty to Animals Act, so it would
be reasonable to assume that this cockpit dates from well
before then. Logic says it would have been a public area,
an asset to the pub that would draw in customers.

Yet it’s not where you’d expect it: behind the premises,
or just below them. Instead, those wishing to enter had
to stoop through two small doors, descend two flights of
stairs, slip into what appears to be just another wine bin
and then squeeze in (the entrance is even more concealed
now, as a modern structural wall narrows it and sits on
top of the one-time sandstone benches). At this point the
pub below is practically as deep as the one above is high.
It feels hidden. It feels furtive.

Standing where once there was a wooden staircase, and
looking up to a ventilation hole and one-time goods entrance

We know from the brilliant reforming Victorian journalist
Henry Mayhew that clandestine blood sports continued
in pubs after the Act. “(Dog) fights take place on the sly
- the tap-room or back-yard of a beershop,” he wrote,
“the police being carefully kept from the spot”. But what
really rushed in to fill the gap was the sordid but then
legal practice of rat fighting: setting dogs to kill scores
of rats within a minute.

Mayhew counted forty or more taverns in the capital
offering the spectacle. He described a typical rat pit in
his 1851 book London Labour and the London Poor as
being “a small circus, some feet in diameter ... fitted with
a high wooden rim that reaches to elbow height. Over it
the branches of a gas lamp are arranged, which light up
the white painted floor, and every part of the little arena

Passageway on the cockpit side of the Wheatsheaf tunnels
... the audience generally clambered upon the tables and
forms, or hung over the sides of the pit itself.”

So was this Dorking cockpit a public facility abandoned
in or before 1835 or was it, as Chelsea Speleogical
Society suspected, hidden and illegal? There is no
obvious physical evidence. Just the fallen beams that once
held the banks of seating, now turned cardboard-light by
the damp: still formidable from the outside, and inside as
crumbling as the sand that lies deep on the arena floor.
A niche in the wall might have held a trophy. Or an oil
lamp. But if so its wick was always well trimmed, there
is no soot there. Or anywhere else evident. Possibly gas,
which arrived in the town in 1834, was used. Oddly, or
maybe suspiciously, no customers seem to have left their
names in the easily-carved walls. What graffiti there is
dates from the early twentieth century.

Pitch black, empty, it is difficult now to imagine this as
a place of entertainment: dark and loud and raucous,
thick with the fug of pipes and sweat and wet with the
slops of beer and cider. What is certain is that below the
shop there remain these two hand-carved tunnels as a
reminder of the town as it was centuries ago. They’re
all the more interesting for being so little visited; not
forgotten, but not now opened to the light. Unusable as a
modern workplace for health and safety reasons, they are
unvisitable by general public tour without the installation
of handrails and new stairs and everything that might
spoil their character. Being shut away has preserved them.

The cockpit

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Cockpit, with remains of bench and wooden seating at left

Decayed remains of the spectators’ wooden seating

The Surrey Mirror Reflects

There is a curious little postscript to the cellars’ history.
On 13 September 1884, the Surrey Mirror reported that
“The Surveyor drew the attention of the Board to the
existence of a cave beneath the High Street from which
sand was continually being abstracted and suggested
that measures be taken to prevent it so as to secure the
safety of the public over the thoroughfare in front of the
Wheatsheaf Inn.”

Did the inn’s owner have a right to undermine the
highway, the Board asked, to which the answer was that
it was “generally understood that they claimed half way
of the road”. Faced with this surprising assertion, the
board decided it was unable to take any action beyond
warning the owner that he would be liable if anything
happened. The surveyor noted that there was 15 feet
of earth between the cave’s ceilings and the road’s
foundations, but he “should not like to trust traction
engines going over it”.

Was the digging to increase the storage space, expand a
covert amphitheatre, or just to extract sand for profit or
use? The sand in the cockpit is noticeably fine, finer than
that taken from many of the town’s quarries. Certainly
as good as that sold at the time as a floor covering for
pubs, a hygienic way of soaking up the slops and spit and
mud that didn’t, like the alternative straw or sawdust,
also harbour rats, mice, mites and more. Its ability to
soak up blood and fowl flesh would already have been
demonstrated within the inn’s premises.

The incident reveals a curious facet of local history, a
folk belief that owners could freely dig to a halfway
point under the town’s main roads. And several did. A
tunnel, now closed, reportedly crossed beneath narrow
little West Street, from number 9-10, the former Rose
and Crown pub (now Christique Antiques) to number
55 (now Viva restaurant).

Tunnel of Love?

The story is that it stretched from the tavern to a brothel
opposite, allowing its customers to establish the alibi of
an innocent pub visit. Sadly, so far no hard evidence for
this has been found. It seems unlikely that the police,
who closely monitored - and when necessary cracked
heads in - the town’s pubs, would be unaware of a regular
promenade of prostitution literally beneath their noses.
It’s a good story though. There may have been an illicit
purpose, such as for the passage for occasional shipments
of untaxed liquor, or this might be another example of a
pub needing more cellar space.

Cooperation in sharing cellars was not unusual in the
town. Whichever it was, it is another example of a relic
of old Dorking and its legion of lost hostelries - of which
the Rose and Crown was, by repute, very much one of
the humbler ones. Both a pub and (packed) common
lodging house, it had been converted from two sixteenth-
century cottages, with stabling for just two horses and
cramped accommodation. According to 1890s records
its customers were vagrants and “a low-class of people”.
This being Dorking it was just yards from yet another
inn opposite, The Bell , itself next door to the tunnel-
connected number 55.

Christique Antiques, formerly the Rose and Crown and
once connected to the building opposite (now Viva), next
to which is the former Bell tavern, yet another of
Dorking’s multitude of coaching inns

Beneath the Streets

These aren’t the only conjoined cellars. Those of the
White Hart on Dene Street were said to be linked with a
competing pub, the Surrey Yeoman on East (now High)
Street until a reported collapse in the 1970s. There are
several other examples. Some must have been planned,
others may have arisen from the accidental driving
through into a neighbour’s cave, at which point the two

75

parties seem to generally have either walled up the gap,
agreed a common use, or sealed one entrance and given
the dual cave over to a single owner. In 1880 the Mid
Surrey Mirror noted that the town was “intersected by
numerous deep and winding caves”.

JS Bright, in his historically valuable 1876 book Dorking,
a History of the Town , notes that the many sand caves
in the town “are large and convenient for the storage
of wine, beer, and other articles of consumption. They
extend, in some cases under the public streets , and run far
back into the hilly sides of the town” (emphasis added).
The joining of tunnels, particularly below the public
highways, might have assisted loading and unloading and
moving goods from storage to stall at busy times such
as market and processional days, as well as providing
protection from the weather and eliminating the need to
cross the town’s notoriously muddy main roads.

Avoid Like the Plague

In the village of Dunster in Somerset one long terrace of
houses had doors added between each premises during a
seventeenth-century plague epidemic so that their length
could be walked without stepping into the street. It’s
not inconceivable that something similar happened here
(even if the greater danger might have been the day-long,
town-wide affray of the town’s football match).

On the subject of epidemics of pestilence, Bright noted
that “the visitation of the plague was felt frequently in
Dorking”, with 108 deaths in 1603 alone, many “buried
in their houses or neighbouring fields”. There may be
some surprises awaiting those carrying out building work.
In recent decades potholes in two town-centre roads have
been filled, then reappeared and been refilled, suggesting
the existence of further possible voids below the tarmac.
The former bakery at Pump Corner reportedly had a cellar
room full of ovens that stretched out under the road which
was simply bricked off when newer ones were installed in
the nineteenth century; however, given the width of the
pavement it’s more likely that if the space does remain
it is beneath the footpath.

Pump Corner, junction of the town s original four main
streets and site of the town pump (centre), as well as its
forgotten ancient well

In searching for confirmation I found a slab of stone with
a small squared keyhole in it, a few metres from the pump
that replaced the ancient town well. Just discernible,
unnoticed and worn by centuries of feet, is a message
carved in it to advise future generations of what it covers.
Rather thrillingly, once deciphered, it reads “Well”.

Talbot House cellar. Now elegantly lit and furnished with
antiques for sale, it was once a smoke-filled, naturally
blacked-out part of a wartime jazz underworld

The cellars of the former elegant double townhouse, with
the apparent arched passage, really a fuel store, in the
background

The finding of an apparent tunnel for mining building
sand reported in Subterranea 40 (December 2015, page
6) also raises the possibility that there might have been

76

of bloody history, the murder of a chaplain there in 1241,
and a 1520 attack by an armed mob on the servant of its
then occupant, vicar Miles Hogg.

The deceptive bay

Hostel to Hostelry

Another one-time coaching inn with unique historical
cellars is the White Horse Hotel. This has been a feature
of the High Street since its construction in front of and
on top of an older edifice, the twelfth-century Cross
House, named for its ownership (and possibly use as a
hostel) by the monks of war, the Knights Templar and,
after their violent suppression, by the Order of St John of
Jerusalem. That earlier building featured in two incidents

people prepared to do a bit of covert
digging for profit at a time when the
usual and easy method of extraction
was large-scale surface quarrying.
Appearances can be deceptive, though,
as evidenced by the legend of a tunnel
to the parish church from the White
Horse , whose genesis was probably
the well passage. The enviably roomy
antique cellars of seventeenth-century,
Georgian-fronted Talbot House at 51-
52 West Street, home to a servicemen
and women’s jazz club in World War
II, feature what looks very much like
a closed-off tunnel reaching out under
the road. Entered, it reveals a small
aperture up to an iron cover in the
pavement above that confirms it as a
one-time coal or wood repository.

It’s worth remembering the caution
voiced by Surrey historian Mathew
Alexander: “It is not unlikely that
many of these rumours (of lost or
sealed tunnels) are started by wine
bins. These are alcoves built into the
walls of many Georgian and Victorian
cellars. They often take the form of a
shallow, arched tunnel leading off the
cellar, and often are only a few feet
deep with a rear wall of brick. It is
easy to see how these could give the
impression of a blocked-off tunnel.”

A town landmark, the White Horse Hotel conceals a small
labyrinth of tunnels beneath it

The Cross House was replaced in the eighteenth century
by The White Horse , now a town landmark, which
incorporated the older structure’s foundations and
probably some of its masonry.

1. Stairs to hotel

2. Ait raid shelter

3. Emergency exit, toilets

4. Bane] ramp, stairs

5. Wine and spirits store

6. Range

7. Stairs down to well

8. Well

The White Horse Hot?)

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The first of the White Horse cellars

What is below it is, at first sight, slightly fantastic, far
more extensive than expected. A fairly normal pub cellar,
girder- and brick-roofed, stone- and brick-flagged, gives
off onto unsuspected tunnels and rooms, mostly still in
use, many with walls of burgeoning, bulging bulwarks of
sandstone buttressed by columns of bricks. This is organic
growth; reused, modernised, adapted, only sometimes
here and there left to decay.

Barred gate to bayed and alcoved bottle store - and
considerably more tunnel space than initially appears

Unusually for a Dorking inn all the wine bays are
neatly finished in brick

Beyond the wine bay there is a further tunnel , with an
antique range looking oddly out of place in it

hearth marooned there. One large, unused, crumbling,
sandstone-walled room reveals the traces of a probable
air-raid shelter for guests and staff. At its far end there is
a small annexe room with a ventilation pipe, emergency
exit and a heavily cobwebbed cubicle either side that
would fit a chemical toilet.

There’s a very modem barrel room; an original multi-
bayed wine and spirits store that stretches much further
than you expect it to, into a crudely niched turn that
might even predate the building above, and then into
another tunnel now used for document storage, with
an incongruously plinth-perched antique cooking

The entrance to the suspected air-raid shelter is
squeezed between a bulging sandstone wall and
a barrel ramp and staircase

And when you think it can’t get much better, you remove
a panel blocking off a doorway and instead of revealing
another chamber it is worn stone steps down that face you.

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In the roof of the shelter there is an escape hatch

The sand floor tilts down, the tunnel turns, there are four
more dais-like steps, and at its end is the bottom of a well.

Chthonic Irrigation

It’s not so usual to be able to look up a well rather than
down into it. So, which came first? A surface well, nicely
placed to serve the kitchens and extensive stabling and
accommodation up top? Or the passage down to the
spring that was its bottom? Was it thought easier to
drive a tunnel to an existing wellshaft in order to draw
water by hand, then climb two flights of stairs to the
kitchens instead of cranking it to the surface right by
the kitchen door? If so it’s difficult to explain why the
passage performs an improbable loop before reaching
its objective. Or was the shaft dropped onto an existing
cellared spring beneath the inn? We don’t know. And
aren’t likely to.

The passage down to the well shows a tidemark up to the
second step, revealing a less disastrous rise and escape
of water than in the South Street Caves. A quick fingertip
search of the loose sand that fills it immediately turns up
fragments of china and nineteenth-century bottles. The
entire tunnel is wonderfully marked by its users. Here
again are the superb carvings of barely educated potboys,
cellarmen and servants who, at a time of widespread
illiteracy, nevertheless left us their names in the fine
cursive script that would have been thrashed into them
in the short period of basic schooling allotted to them.
Here are dates: 1761, 1793, the beginning of the French

Revolutionary Wars; 1801, 1811, 1818, the year of
Frankenstein 's publication; 1819, October 1822, 1889
- a plethora of remembering, history, names and initials.
Etched by hand down here in the near absolute darkness
in moments of rest or escape by staff sent to lug water
up all those stairs: W Baker, C Clack, Woollett, Jones,
Ann Hewett.

Stairs down from the cellar to the well passage

The passage descending to the well is heavily carved with
the names of those who used it

Was one of these a serving girl or barman who took
Charles Dickens his water and brandy or hot rum and
butter, or served him and ten thousand others the local
delicacies: water sousey (a dish of carp, perch and tench),
white snails, a Dorking chicken with its characteristic
supernumerary claws? They laboured, lived, perhaps

79

Two storeys below the surface, the White Horse well,
surrounded by the carved names and initials of those who
drew water there. An T+P ’ appears both here and the
South Street caves. Perhaps the same person worked
in - or delivered barrels/bottles to - both establishments

loved here, and nothing would remain of them if they
had not left us their handiwork in these walls.

Looking up the well

Inns and Outs

With the coming of the railways and the ending of
stagecoach routes the number of inns fell, and continued
to do so as the farmers’ market declined throughout the
twentieth century. Among the evocatively named losses
were The Pig in String, Great Bell Inn, Cardinal's Hat,
Three Tuns, Ram, Rock, Gun, Sun, Fox, Nag's Head,
Evening Star, Beehive and Red Lion (from whose
steps the Riot Act was read in 1830, before the cavalry
were let loose upon a crowd of protesting agricultural
labourers chanting “Blood or Bread”). But the town still
supports some fine examples of historic pubs. Of the lost
ones, some buildings remain in retail or business use,
potentially with their underground areas intact.

Numbers 5 and 13 High Street flank the former carriage
entrance to the historic King’s Head inn

Even a comparatively simple cellar conceals clues.
Number 13 High Street (Shoerite Limited) is a Victorian
shop and residence above, with a basement, constrained
by the building’s footprint, below. Apparently. Except that
even in this humble storage area there are two arches,
one now breeze-blocked, that scooped out extra space by
stretching under the carriage entrance of the neighbouring
inn, the King's Head.

Decapitated brick columns show different periods of
construction and that the shop floor has been lowered
(removing the entry step necessary in the days of earth
and flint roads) at the basement’s expense. In the cellar
wall there are the remains of a small, blocked window that
would once have given onto a skylight or grated airhole
in the pavement. No trace of it now remains above, and
the brickwork is older than the smart Victorian stucco
frontage would suggest.

The same goes for the four steps up to an antique blocked
doorway that must once have given onto the street -
from where both entrances to the space below have been
firmly erased from view. But only on the surface. What
lies beneath reveals that what lies above is more ancient
than its fafade suggests.

Number 13: one of two arched cellar sections directly below
the King’s Head’s former carriage entrance

Its neighbour is even more interesting. Just the other side
of that narrow drive into the old inn yard is number 5 High
Street (Dorking Alterations). Which houses an entrance
into the ancient hostelry’s cellars. Or one of them.

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Number 5 Hi g h Street Number 13

The King’s Head was an early and leading inn, dating
back to the late seventeenth century (and even before
that as the Lower Chequers tavern; the rival Chequers
Inn was across the road), and was for many years a
leading transit point for anyone wishing to travel by stage
to London. It was the likely original for the Pickwick
Papers’ Marquis of Granby, while Sam Weller’s father
was probably modelled on the coachman of the Bull’s
Head, almost opposite.

This is how Dickens described it: “The bar window
displayed a choice collection of geranium plants, and a
well-dusted row of spirit phials. The open shutters bore
a variety of golden inscriptions, eulogistic of good beds
and neat wines; and the choice group of countrymen and
hostlers lounging about the stable-door and horse-trough,
afforded presumptive proof of the excellent quality of
the ale and spirits which were sold within. Sam Weller
paused, when he dismounted from the coach, to note all
these little indications of a thriving business, with the
eye of an experienced traveller; and having done so,
stepped in at once, highly satisfied with everything he
had observed.”

The cellar below Number 5, part of the old King’s Head. The
wooden flooring to the left of the stairs conceals a further cellar

The author of the 1855 A Hand-Book of Dorking wrote
that “The accommodations of this vast establishment
were once on the completest scale; and at that period it
was noted for serving up water-sousey , a delicate fish, in
great repute among the bon-vivants.” Later, despite the
building of a large entertainment hall, “it declined and
the premises were let off and converted into shops and
partly occupied by poor families.”

The inn retrenched. It had straddled two important
roads. Now parts were sold off, in particular its sizeable
presence on the High Street. Then the courtyard, vital
for the stagecoach trade and long a venue for visiting
players, went. The part of the building facing onto
narrow little North Street remained virtually unaltered,
much of it surviving as an inn into the twentieth
century.

In time the ex-premises on the High Street were
remodelled and acquired an early Victorian fagade. They
got a second one, with Dutch gables, towards the end of
that century. The old courtyard and North Street frontage,
(which faced, just feet away, yet another competitor, the
Gun Inn ) have all now been charmingly preserved as a
cafe and small shops.

Hidden Steps

Entered, like its neighbour at Number 13, through a
hatch in the shop floor, the cellar at Number 5 is a fine
one, which reveals its evolution through different eras
of brickwork, arches and some surviving antique beams.
Typically, it has four alcoves built into the walls for
holding bottles. An intriguing short, narrow little apparent
corridor leads off on one side, complete with a niche that
might have held a lamp, and a curving roof that suggests
how the space has changed over the years - and that more
of it may have been filled or sealed off behind the existing
walls during the generations of changes.

Unusually, it is completely lined with brick, including
the floor. Except, that is, where that floor is made of
timber panels. An arrangement that seems quite normal
until you notice gaps at the edges. Explore these, lie
down, squeeze a camera in and you discover that there
are 13 more brick steps, well-walled and arched above,

81

There are hints that there may he further cellars behind the
walls of the much subdivided one-time tavern

leading into an intriguingly dark sand cave below. This
has been drawn to the attention of the owner and it is at
his discretion to decide if at some point a panel can be
lifted (and later replaced) to allow a way in.

Shot through a crack in the cellar floor at number 5: stairs
down to a further level

Three in a Row

The weakest stone thrower could once have hit five
taverns from this one’s doorway. One was the White Lion
(now the St Catherine’s Hospice Shop) at 8-10 South
Street. It is uncertain whether this fine little (probably)
seventeenth-century historical building was built as an
inn, or was, like many others, converted from a dwelling.

Original timbers from the days of the old inn

The original basement, now divided into two, appears
small if intended for pub use. A shortcoming that looks
to have been solved by buying the neighbouring building,
Number 12 (now The Edit), and driving a passage through
into its cellar rather than out under the road. This would
have offered the additional advantage of an entrance
direct into the shared inn yard and stables area behind
both buildings.

Charles Rose described the White Lion as being
“besieged” on Saturday nights by workers from the chalk
pits eager “to attend that welcome spot - the pay table”.
This blameless (if you set aside the rather odd presence
of peepholes in its bedroom doors) little inn was closed
by the licensing authorities in Edwardian times as surplus
to the town’s requirements, then divided into two shops.
Its cellar was likewise split into two, both now part-filled
with earth, and the way through to Number 12’s basement
sealed off.

Over the years the former pub has hosted various
concerns: a cobblers, dyers and cleaners, clothes shops,
and a tailors; owner Ian Cameron, co-author of both
buildings’ award-winning 1990s restoration, reports
finding a wealth of lost cotton reels, wooden soldiers and
thimbles beneath the floorboards. Meanwhile Number 12
was, from 1893 to 1958, a tobacconist and confectioners
named Boorers and, later, Ye Old Oake Shop.

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L Storage bin

2, Coal/log chute
3* Stove

4. Hollow sounding area

5. Chute (blocked)

6. W ailed-olf entrance to
adjoining premises

7. Delivery entrance
(blocked)

down towards the counter at the back.
Coming in from the sunlit street, you
felt you were entering a cave. Perfumes
met you as you went in, snuff, cigars,
tobacco, chocolate and, over all, a
certain stale mustiness. The ceiling
was beamed with old ship’s timbers
and the whole place was very old. A
warm greeting from my aunt and uncle;
the counter flap lifted up and I would
be in the Holy of Holies, behind. In
the entrance door there was a small
counter inserted and arrayed under it
were boxes of all kinds of sweet things.
I remember locust beans - hard and
brown and sweet, probably somewhat
dusty, too - chocolate drops, aniseed
balls, sherbet and black licorice, not yet
surrounded with colour ... a halfpenny
bought a feast.”

Number 12’s cellar, with its old coal
stove preserved in situ, remains in
use, part shop floor, part storeroom.
Like many in the town, the chute or
trapdoored entrances down from the
street have been paved over without
trace, but a fine coal hole cover, a ringed
square slab of stone far from the elegant
cast-iron ones of the later Victorian era,
lives on in the alley above.

Ian Cameron describes the urgency
of flooring this cellar as part of the
restoration. At some point its original

Coal stove preserved in situ below Number 12 South Street
There is a lovely description of it as it was in 1920 written
by one of the family, Elizabeth Green, nee Boorer: “The
shop was small and dark. You went down two steps to
go in and from the door the floor sloped away unevenly,

The cellars at Number 12, with characteristic alcove in far

wall, once belonged to the neighbouring White Lion pub

sandstone floor had been given a thin screed, probably
to allow the tobacconists’ goods to be better stored there.
He says that he will always regret the need to concrete
over an intriguingly hollow-sounding patch that may
have covered a further cave, or possibly a well, below.

83

The conserved (thanks to the enthusiasm of its owner), part-
filled, left-hand cellar of the old White Lion, showing at the far
end the passage built to connect with the building next door

Next door, the left-hand side of the divided pub cellar
lives on in earthy darkness, living history unsuspected
beneath the customers’ feet. Blackened and heavily
cobwebbed, the right-hand half is a kind of museum
to shop use, heaped with the jetsam of recent decades.
Mounds of plastic clothes hangers crackling underfoot
testify to a decision to replace them with wooden ones. A
child mannequin remains forever young next to a discarded
1980s cash register. Nearby among the detritus of old
fittings, another register is slowly sinking into the soil.

Storage bays and the trap down from the shop, formerly
the White Lion, above

Time and Tide

The tides of time and history wash over our surroundings,
covering them or washing them away. But sometimes
unearthing them too. Just next to Number 12 and the
former White Lion is the early nineteenth-century
Number 16-18 (Shabby Chic Country Living).

A recent renovation here removed the previous fittings
and modem flooring to reveal fine old floorboards and a
pub-like double hatch down. Once it would have led to
a roomy brick- and stone-lined cellar which can now be
entered from behind the shop. In it the original alcoves
live on, alongside large brick storage bins very similar to
those at the White Horse. In the alleyway above another
hand-carved ringed stone slab covers the coal chute that
once fed into it.

Coal/log chute seen from above. A similar hand-carved,
ringed stone cover also serves number 12, next door

84

View of the roomy cellars below number 16-18.
The far wall is given over to storage bays

Journeys to the Underworld

Despite Dorking’s superabundance of pubs, its beery
cockfighting and cheery riots, alleged witches, hanged
highwaymen and naughty boys (who disassembled a
bridge behind a funeral procession and blew up a Box
Hill cave drinking den), its exhibitionists and eccentrics,
underground sects and subterranean sex, tunnellers and
tarts, it still somehow failed to make it into the county
rhyme:

“Sutton for mutton,

Carshalton for beeves,

Epsom for whores,
and Ewell for thieves.”

By living even a few generations we become time
travellers, suddenly wondering when we stopped
answering telephones by stating their number or when
shopkeepers ceased counting out change into your hand.
We remember the past, but evolve in a succession of
presents. Subterranean structures - made redundant by
refrigeration and regulations on food and drink storage,
then closed off as too dark or dank or dangerous - don’t.
The town’s hand-dug, often crudely made, sometimes
dripping cellars are perfect time capsules. Unchanged,
they take us back to a Dorking of Swing Riots and arson
by farmworkers barely surviving on starvation wages, of
invasion scares, yeomanries and militias, disease, poverty
and public execution, and of dread of a poorhouse that
was so large that when it was converted for a twentieth-
century hospital two thirds of it was demolished - yet
when the area was also a ferment of the arts, an inspiration
for artists and authors.

And all overlooked from a scenic distance by the
mansions of men unsurprised by the idea of spending the
equivalent of 750 years of a farm labourer’s annual wage
to memorialise the fraternal gift of a garden extension.
Lost But Not Forgotten, Forgotten But Not Lost
Over the years some major subterranean structures have
been destroyed, but there’s enough, known and unknown,
below the town to reward months of study, whether lost
but not forgotten or forgotten but not lost.

Prime in the first category is the site of the town’s leading
industry and once most famous product: Dorking Lime.
As in many places the road names give away what has
now been completely filled in and built over: Chalkpit
Lane, Limeway, Chalkpit Terrace. Alongside and beneath
them once stretched a huge quarry and towering lime
kilns, even, during the war, an anti-tank ditch stretching
to the slopes of Box Hill. It was an enormous operation
that only closed in the 1940s.

The 1855 A Hand-Book of Dorking noted: “Dorking is
especially famous for its Lime and for its Fowls. In the
Chalk Pits ... are several large kilns. The lime produced
here is much valued for its property of hardening under
water, and it is said to have been first extensively used
in the metropolis, in building the London Docks, and
the Sessions House and County Gaol at Horsemonger
Square.” (As well as the Bank of England [1788
onwards], Somerset House [1801] and West India Docks
[1802].)

It was considered the best in the country, according to JS
Bright who wrote in 1872 that its quality “created many
years ago an excitement which was called the lime mania”.
It became so famous that two rival works were built at
nearby Betchworth, both trading on the Dorking name.
But it was the town’s quarry and works that took
onlookers’ breath away. They almost deprived the
Victorianly verbose author of A Picturesque Promenade
around Dorking of words to describe them. Breathlessly
he talks of “Tremendous precipices and chalk-pits which
are continually wrought (and) immense kilns,” and
says that they were “by far the most extensive” of the
competing concerns. If so, they must have been truly
spectacular; the by inference smaller, but thankfully
remaining works at Betchworth are still a treasure trove
of industrial archaeology.

The two quarries there (one known as Brockham
Lime Works) are definitely worth visiting. Betchworth
Chalkpits, now a nature reserve, has lost its once vast
cliff (over which a white Jaguar was filmed driving to its
death for the TV series The Saint , the footage recurring
in successive ITC programmes) to landfill and many
buildings have necessarily been demolished.

But many superb built artefacts remain, and some of the
destroyed ones were captured in the 1970 film Scream
and Scream Again, which used its other-worldly scale and
everywhere-white-coated scenery to considerable effect.
The same is true of both sites’ appearances in the 1976
Doctor Who series The Deadly Assassin. Sadly, Lloyd
of the C.I.D , a 1930s cinema serial filmed at Deepdene
House, is currently listed as lost by the British Film
Institute.

Heavy Metal

There are many other lost or unenterable sites recorded in
records, or discoverable when exploring: the apparently
deliberately collapsed bunker that looked out over the

85

intricate pattern of trenches dug in The Nower’s woods
for pre-D-Day training; Cotmandene Cottage’s “garden
grotto and cabinet collection of curiosities” mentioned in
A Picturesque Promenade ; at least two venerable cellars
below Waitrose in South Street, one of them surveyed in
1940 for use as a public shelter; Deepdene’s ice-houses
and tunnels, an underground site of national importance;
and the once highly modern staff shelter now resting
beneath the croquet lawn of Milton Court, built when the
mansion served as the wartime headquarters of Henley
Cable.

The practice trenches whose was observed from the bunker

Then there’s the bomb shelter of Powell Corderoy
school, buried below Wickes in the old quarries of
Vincent Lane, where composer Vaughan Williams filled
sandbags in World War II in between visits to Dorking
Halls, built to stage his music festival, and itself sited
in yet another former sand quarry; and the demolished
1892 mobilisation centre on Denbies hillside (site of the
fictional 1871 Battle of Dorking), whose sister redoubt
on Box Hill has had its underground magazines barred
off for bats by the National Trust. (Also buried at Denbies
were three armoured vehicles jettisoned in 1944. Two
have now been recovered, including a Covenanter tank,
disinterred in 1983 that now, superbly restored, graces
Bovington Tank Museum.)

Part of the trench complex, a practice climbing wall

A member of the Surrey Antique Bottle Collectors’ club
owns three Bellarmine jugs, 16th- or 17th-century pottery
flagons, bought still wrapped in pages from a 1950s
Dorking Advertiser. That was when the seller, a builder,

had been working at Number 99 High Street, and come
upon a “cellar full of them”. Mildly interested, he picked
up the specimens that he would sell years later. Now
worth not too far off five hundred pounds each, there
should be scores or maybe hundreds more still down
there. With a Barclays Bank built on top.

A sad but probably unavoidable loss were the caves filled
in during the 1970s construction of Sainsbury’s car park
behind the High Street. A myth exists about these and
their claimed sudden and dramatic destruction, including
of their amateurishly mural-painted walls, which are
described as being of possible Roman origin, despite
their looking very 1960s Tolkienesque.

A check of the records shows that the council surveyed
the caves - in reality a cellar complex shared between two
shops several premises apart (that cooperation again) and
a tunnel (shared by two widely spaced shops) - ahead of
the decision to demolish, and retained the short sections
not below the car park. Permission is being sought to visit.
In the nineteenth century the premises had belonged,
among others, to the Chequers Inn (whose splendid double
bow-front, along with some 16th- and 17th-century wall
paintings, is preserved as Robert Dyas), and to Sauberge’s,
a once celebrated ironmongery, behind which the goods
for sale were manufactured by a thirty-strong workforce
of blacksmiths, whitesmiths, gunsmiths, coppersmiths and
braziers. The cellars would have been perfect not just for
the storage of goods, but also of the necessary coal and
coke. This would also appear to be the site referred to by
the local newspaper in 1940, when it reported that “Terms
suggested ... having been accepted, the air-conditioning
plant is to be adapted to serve the public basement shelter
below those premises.”

Prior to the laying of the car park surface the cellars
were exposed to the air and photographed. Using this
record the British Brick Society has kindly provided
the following information about the walls shown, both
painted and unpainted: “The half-brick thick separating
wall with piers that abuts the mural looks very much like
a wall of London Brick Co ‘Fletton’ bricks from their
relatively precise form and their colouration. Looking
at the top of the wall, they seem to have the deep frogs
typical of ‘Flettons’. If that identification is correct it
would corroborate a 1960s/70s date.”

Alongside an unlined sandstone cellar dug from above,
the other easiest way to make excavation is a simple
horizontal shaft driven, sometimes very deeply, into the
hillsides or the numerous cliffs created by quarrying
throughout the town. (These stretch virtually the whole
south side of the High Street and much of South Street
and Vincent Lane).

One of these tunnels, whose entrance was pictured in
an attractive 1905 drawing of “Quaint old Court Yard,
Dorking, Surrey”, was identified thanks to readers of the
Dorking Advertiser as being off Farnborough Passage

86

between Numbers 66 and 70 High Street. It adjoined
the lost Sainsbury’s site and was part of an extraordinary
localised concentration of basements, cellars below
cellars, the caves of the former Rock brewery and
beerhouse (later used for mushroom farming) and at least
one further now lost tunnel.

Created as storage space, it was also used as a Christmas
grotto, but is now blocked by modem buildings. You have
to dream of it being walled off and closed to the light still
draped, tinselled and starred for a long-past Christmas.
There are, however, two easily seen examples of similar
short tunnels next to the rather lovely Castle Mill, plus
several more known of behind the High Street frontage,
often altered, shortened or destroyed during successive
waves of sand extraction.

Scratching the Surface

Normally this would be a sad litany of loss, but the
demolished sites are outnumbered by potentially still
existing ones. Not to mention the likely hidden ones that
have been wholly forgotten. All but two sites remain
(though some have been firmly sealed) of the twelve
visited by Chelsea Speleological Society during the
1970s. Wartime accounts point to others, including the

Storage tunnels by Castle Mill

ARP’s Dorking Report Centre in the basement of the then
town hall, Pippbrook House, “with walls and ceilings
strengthened to make them as bombproof as possible”.
At the end of World War II it was revealed that every
workshop and manufacturing concern in the town had
been engaged in war work. They would have had to make
provision for the safety of their staff. There would have
been no better direction to turn for this than downwards.
Records held by Dorking Museum document at least two
other historically interesting caves, albeit possibly long
since destroyed.

In Dorking, as in many towns, it is worth walking with
your gaze high and directed across the road. Hand-carved
beams frame doors and windows, green men gaze with
malice from column tops, terracotta flowers bloom, a
dragon flexes its wings, lions bare their teeth, a brick owl
ponders the message “Let There Be Light”, and behind
Georgian and Victorian parapets earlier rooflines weave
and sag.

But break the rule, tread the same streets and keep your
head down, and something else is revealed. A wonderland
of ways down, a montage of manholes, an invitation of
entrances. Building after building, shop after shop, with
a disused hatch, a leaf-choked grating, a never-lifted
coalhole cover, or railinged steps down to a long-locked
door. Ventilators, manhole covers, filled and grilled
cellar entrances. More places than you could ever get
permission to prise open and visit.

There’s a whole town down there.

Where to Visit

The following sites are open to the public:

South Street Caves: www.dorkingmuseum.org.uk/south-
street-caves

Deepdene Trail: www.deepdenetrail.co.uk
Dorking Museum: www.dorkingmuseum.org.uk
The surface interiors at the Old King’s Head Court and
White Horse Hotel (addresses in article) can be viewed
and both serve refreshments. Anyone shopping at the
several retail establishments also mentioned here will
similarly enjoy the goods on sale and the period details
both inside and outside.

87

Betchworth Chalkpits: www.surreywildlifetrust.org/

reserves/betchworth-quarry-lime-kilns

Brockham Lime works: www.surreywildlifetrust.org/

reserves/brockham-limeworks

The Castle Mill (RH4 INN) caves can be seen from the
adjoining public footpath, which runs down from the
Watermill Pub car park.

Reigate Caves: www.reigatecaves.com

References:

Alexander, M. (1985). Tales of Old Surrey. Newbury:
Countryside Books.

Alexander, M. (2004). A Surrey Garland. Newbury:
Countryside Books.

Anon (believed to be Dennis, J.). (1855). A Hand-Book of
Dorking. Dorking: J. Rowe Reprinted (1974). Dorking:
Kohler and Coombes.

Bright, J. (1876). Dorking, a History of the Town, with a
Description of the Distinguished Residences, Remarkable
Places, Walks and Drives, and Literary Associations.
Dorking: R.J. Clark.

Cook, A. (2008). Cash for Honours. Chalford: The History
Press.

Emmerson, A. and Beard, T. (2004). London’s Secret Tubes.
Harrow: Capital Transport.

Harding, K. (1997). Dorking Revisited. Stroud: Sutton
Publishing Ltd.

Henderson, J. and Hillman, B. and Pearman, H. (1968).
More Secret Tunnels in Surrey. London: Chelsea
Speleological Society.

Higgins, B. and Ettlinger, V. (2001). The Great House on
Butter Hill in Dorking History 2001. Dorking: Dorking
Local History Group

Hughes, R. (2016). Deepdene’s Darkest Days: the
Scandalous Story of the Deepdene Hotel. Talk delivered
to coincide with opening of the Deepdene Trail.

Jackson, A. (1989). Around Dorking in Old Photographs.

Tunnels discovered at

A surprise discovery of tunnels dug in sand at a site
for a new Post Office at Esher in 1955 was reported as
follows ...

The discovery of some underground passages or
caves in the centre of Esher has caused a flutter in
antiquarian circles and a temporary hold-up in the
work of excavating test holes to find out what the
subsoils are like on the site of the new Post Office near
The Windsor Arms’ ,„ Last Friday one of the men,
Mr. Jack Cape, was digging at a depth of about 14
feet, watched by his companion, Mr. G. Underdown,
when suddenly he practically disappeared. White
faced and shaking, he scrambled out of a hole into
which he had fallen and then Mr. Underdown went
down a ladder and started to explore.

Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing.

Jackson, A. (editor). (1991). Dorking: A Surrey Market
Town through Twenty Centuries. Dorking: Dorking Local
History Group.

Knight, D. (1989). Dorking in Wartime. Dorking: David
Knight.

L’Estrange, E. (1929). Witch Hunting and Witch Trials.
The Indictments for Witchcraft from the Records of 1373
Assizes Held for the Home Circuit, A.D. 1559-1736. New
York: Routledge Library Press.

Mayhew, H. (1851). London Labour and the London Poor.
London: George Woodfall and Son.

Pearman, H. (compiler). (1963). Secret tunnels in Surrey.
Powys: Chelsea Speleological Society.

Pearman, H. (compiler). Caves and Tunnels in South-East
England. London (1976): Chelsea Speleological Society.
Caves and Tunnels in South-East England: Part 2. London
(1978): Chelsea Speleological Society.

Rose, C. (1878). Recollections of Old Dorking. Guildford:
West Surrey Times. Reprinted in Kohler, M.K. (1977).
Memories of Old Dorking. Dorking: Kohler and Coombes.
Timbs, J. (1822). A Picturesque Promenade Round
Dorking. London: John Warren.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to those who have assisted, particularly with
access and permission for photography: Simon Mallalieu
of Shoerite Limited; Pam Lintott and the staff of the
Quilt Shop; George Morjaria of Dorking Alterations; Ian
Cameron; the staff of the St Catherine’s Hospice Shop; Lisa
Martin of The Edit; Simon Dykes of Shabby Chic Country
Living; Talbot House Antiques Centre; Michael Hammett
of the British Brick Society; Mole Valley District Council
press office; the White Horse Hotel and the Mercure media
office; Dorking Local History Group; and Jean Neve and
Kathy Atherton of Dorking Museum.

Photos and illustrations copyright Sam Dawson

Esher, Surrey

He found that the test hole had been driven through
the roof of an underground passage running
approximately east and west.

The tunnel was subsequently examined by F. J. Tayler of
the Esher News and T.E.C Walker of Cobham (a member
of the Surrey Archaeological Society). A 5 feet long
chamber with a gothic arch ceiling profile was reported
running in the direction of the Esher schools. On the end
wall was an incised depiction of a face within a circle.
In the opposite direction, towards the old church, there
was a collapse, barring further progress. A small hole at
floor level, however, gave access to a further walking-
height tunnel in which was noted a further total collapse.
SOURCE: ANON 1955, Underground caves discovered:
strange find on new Post Office site. Esher News &
Advertiser, 9 September 1955.

( ^

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